Guardian of the Storm
by Kamen Rider Fourze
Summary: Naruto has fallen in battle, but is given another chance at life. However, it will not be in his world, which he is now forbidden from returning to, but a new world. Here he will find new friends and enemies, face new challenges and tests, and encounter people who will stand by him to the end. He is their guardian. He is the Guardian of the Storm.
1. Titans, Go!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything concerning Naruto or Teen Titans in anyway.

Hey everyone. I've been on vacation in Japan for the last month, so I haven't been able to update any of my stories since then. The few times I've been able to use the hotel's computer lab, it's just been to respond to reviews and PMs.

Now that I'm back, I know I should have used the time to update one of my existing stories, but do you know what they showed on TV in my hotel room? Teen Titans reruns. Japanese dubbed obviously, and this is one where I actually like the English voices better. Naturally I got inspired and had to get this out or I'd never be able to stop obsessing over it and focus on my other stories. It's just the way my inspirations and thoughts work. Sorry.

Anyway, this story is one I've wanted to write for years, but could never figure out what to do with it. See, most of Naruto's abilities are far too… lethal for use in the TT world, considering they're mostly just different versions of the Rasengan. People who have done this crossover before just remain stubborn about it though, and severely _under_power his abilities to keep them nonlethal.

So, I needed to give him something different, something that _could_ believably be nonlethal, yet was still powerful enough to be lethal if he wanted it to be, at the same time. And I found my answer.

* * *

Naruto gasped as his body was enveloped in a warm, comforting sensation. It felt as if his body was floating in water set at just the right temperature to suit him. As he opened his eyes, he saw that he was lying down in an area of pure white. There was nothing at all around him for as far as he could see. Looking down upon himself, he saw that his orange and black shinobi outfit was in tatters, and blood was smeared around the torn and ripped scraps of clothing.

"W-What happened?" He muttered, wincing as he felt his throat was either dry or sore.

"That is simple. You perished in battle."

Naruto's eyes widened at the soft, beautiful voice that spoke and two beings standing before him. To his left was the shinigami who had been summoned before against Orochimaru and Kurama, the latter of which was still sealed inside of his body. To the right was the bright white outline of a woman, though he could not make out any distinguishing features about her. She did have what he'd call eyes, a nose, and a mouth, but there were nothing to see in them. They simply looked empty. Despite this, he did not fear her at all. All he could feel was warmth and care radiating off from her.

The woman gestured to the shinigami beside her, who nodded and thrust his hand directly into Naruto's chest. Slowly, the hand started retracting, and he heard him. Kurama was roaring out in anger as the shinigami was taking him from Naruto.

"**No! I will not go like this!"**

Despite the fox's protest, all nine of his tails were soon jutting out of Naruto's chest, with the shinigami's hand grasping the base of each one and slowly, but surely, the fox was being forcibly removed.

"**If you are to take me, then I will take something of my own!"**

Now Naruto gasped in pain as he felt something within him break. He wasn't aware he was screaming in pain for a few moments, as his mind had been trying to block out the pain. When Kurama was finally removed from his body, he saw, grasped in the fox's claws, a dark blue body. Looking up at it, he saw that the thing had his face, from the hair down to the whisker marks.

"No, do not let him take—!"

But it was too late. The shinigami, either not hearing or not heeding her words, swallowed the fox whole, along with the glowing blue embodiment of Naruto. The giant being nodded down at Naruto before fading away, leaving no sign he had ever been there.

Naruto panted heavily, sweat running down his face, as the pain slowly dissipated from his body. What had Kurama taken with him? Glancing up at the woman, he saw that she was clenching her fists in anger, glaring at the spot the shinigami had just occupied.

"That fool…" The woman turned back to Naruto, and though she had no real eyes to speak of, he imagined she would've been giving him an apologetic and remorseful look if she could have. "I am sorry Naruto, but death is the shinigami's domain, and I am not allowed to interfere in his work. He has no patience, and sometimes I believe he has no intelligence either."

Naruto stared in shock at this woman who could so easily insult the shinigami as she did, and was now more curious than ever about her identity. "W-What did he take from me?"

She nodded, expecting that to be his first question. "When a being dies, one soul is taken. No more, no less. But jinchuriki such as yourself are in a unique situation. You have two souls inside you, and only one is needed as payment. Naturally, the shinigami would only take the soul not native to your body. However, I had not predicted Kurama's actions. Naruto, what he took from you was your chakra."

Naruto shook his head in denial and raised his right hand, trying to form a rasengan to prove her wrong, but he could not. He could not draw on his chakra because it was not there. He felt _nothing_. "My…chakra…"

"I am truly sorry, Naruto. Your father's seal may have been helping you in life by slowly draining Kurama's chakra away from him and filling your own reserves, but in death it was a weakness, a vulnerability that Kurama managed to exploit." The woman told him sadly. "He knew what fate awaited him when he was being taken from you, so I believe he only stole your chakra to spite you or your father, perhaps even the both of you."

Naruto let his right hand drop, finally acknowledging the truth of her words. "What does it matter anyways? I'm dead aren't I?"

"Yes and no. As I said, only one soul is taken per death, and you still possess yours. Naturally, it is then within my power to restore life to you."

Naruto smiled, jumping to his feet in shock. "You can? Wait…why is it within your power to do so? Who are you and why can't I see your face?"

"I have many names, but the people of your world have referred to me as Kami. As for why your eyes cannot perceive my features, the answer is quite simple. My beauty far surpasses that of any woman. It is such that, to gaze upon me is to go blind, for nothing you saw after would ever compare."

Naruto now looked upon the woman in a new light, with much more respect, but also a slight bit of fear. He couldn't imagine what she must really look like. To be so beautiful that looking upon her face would leave a person blind, it was unimaginable. That person would be picturing nothing but her face for the rest of their life. It was slightly horrifying. "S-So you can send me back to Konoha, right?"

"I'm afraid that is impossible now, Naruto." The woman answered regretfully. "The basic laws of your world forbid you from doing so. As it has been since your world began, every sentient being requires chakra to live, even if only just enough to survive. The second you stepped back into your world, you would perish, and be back here once more, with the shinigami judging your life to determine your fate. That would be a waste, Naruto, and one I am not prepared to let you experience."

Naruto hung his head, gritting his teeth and clenching his fists. Kakashi, Sakura, Yamato, Tsunade… Sasuke. He would never see any of them again. He wouldn't be able to bring Sasuke back, become Hokage, or finish off Obito himself to end the war. "What option is there left for me?"

"You may simply pass on, and be with those you have lost. You will be away from pain, suffering, and loss forever." The woman declared, raising a hand and bringing up images of Sarutobi Hiruzen, Uzumaki Kushina, Jiraiya, Haku, and Zabuza.

Naruto frowned. That was a tempting offer. But it didn't seem like the right one. Uzumaki Naruto was never one to take the easy route, and he would go mad with boredom eventually. "Or…?" he pressed on.

The smiles on the faces of those he had lost grew even wider as they vanished. Kami herself had a proud smile. "You may enter a new world, one which may yet require your aid. There will be danger, and new enemies to face, but there are also innocents to save, and new friends to make."

Well, that settled it. Naruto stood up straight and punched his right fist into his left palm. "Well, there's your answer. I choose to enter whatever world you send me to. But…how will I fight without chakra?" Naruto finished sheepishly.

Kami hummed, tapping a slender white finger against her chin. "I am fond of turning weakness into strength. In your life, what would you personally declare as your greatest weakness in combat?"

Naruto opened his mouth in reply, but closed it immediately. He had been about to say a lack of chakra control, but she said in combat, not with chakra. So he started thinking back about his past battles in life. He felt he was alright with taijutsu. Not an expert for sure, but not lacking either. So that wasn't it. He was never strong at using genjutsu, but that was a preference of choice. By the time he'd died, he was skilled enough to dispel almost any genjutsu placed upon him, except for the unavoidable or inescapable ones like Tsukuyomi naturally. He _chose_ not to learn how to fight with them, so he didn't really count that either. The same could be said of kenjutsu, he didn't bother learning because he simply didn't want to. Ninjutsu was his specialty, and he prided himself on his abilities and skill with Kage Bunshin and Rasengan. Wait, that was it.

"I was primarily a close range fighter. I had almost no ranged attacks, maybe only one at all, which was my Rasenshuriken. That was my weakness. I had to get in close before I could really start fighting." Naruto declared decisively.

Kami nodded approvingly. "I agree with your assessment. That is why you shall now become a ranged fighter. Hmm, but what to give you. Ah!" Kami said, snapping her fingers. She cupped her two hands together, as if holding water between them, and released a glowing red ball towards Naruto. The ball connected with Naruto and surrounded him in a bright red flash of light.

When it cleared, Naruto was now wearing a new, different, outfit to replace the one that had been almost nothing but rags. He had a dark red shirt under a thin black jacket that had been left unbuttoned. He was wearing black fingerless gloves that had a single metal plate atop the back, similar to Kakashi's gloves. He was wearing black pants to match his jacket and thick black boots that came up to his ankles. Around his waist was a white belt with the most unusual buckle he'd ever seen. In the center was a large red gem, atop of which, were two silver bands crossing to form an X. Looking down, he saw words on them that he could make out, but couldn't understand.

Surrounding the buckle was some kind of large cat, perhaps a lion or a tiger, and angled up behind its head was what appeared to be a large crown. All in all, it looked pretty impressive, and he would wager it had something to do with whatever his new powers were. Then he felt a sudden weight on his right hand and spotted five new rings on his fingers.

The rings all appeared similar except for the different gems embedded in them, all of which were cut into a diamond shape. The ring on his middle finger had a bright red gem in the center that was held in place at the four corners with what looked like small silver chains. At the top of the gem was some kind of crest, followed by what looked like a picture of a… tornado. At the bottom was a silver banner with that same word again. VONGOLA.

The other rings were green, blue, yellow, and purple, and each had the came crest and banner, but a different symbol. The green had a lightning bolt, the blue had a water drop, the yellow had a sun, and the purple had a cloud. "Awesome… are they different elements maybe? Tornado would be… wind, right? Then lightning, water, sun… maybe fire? And cloud would be… I'm not sure about that one." Naruto muttered to himself.

Kami laughed slightly in amusement, and Naruto couldn't help but to smile as well. Her laughter was like the most beautiful music he'd ever heard, and it instantly filled him with cheer. He imagined he'd have no problem listening to such a voice for eternity, as expected of Kami-sama herself.

"You amuse me, Naruto-kun. You get excited over the prospect of new skills and abilities in battle, which you only partake in to protect others. It is the unfortunate truth of humanity that many others in your place would start thinking what they could do for themselves with such power. You are a noble soul, Naruto-kun, and I sincerely hope you never change." Kami said with affection evident in her voice.

"But our time is running out. Even if you are allowed a new chance at life, this realm is not meant for mortals. Spend too much time here, and it will be assumed you are meant to be dead. The only reason the shinigami has not returned yet, is that he is… pleased to have finally claimed Kurama's soul. Under better circumstances, I would have allowed you time to train and grow used to your newfound abilities, but you are used to the rapid assimilation of knowledge, yes?"

Naruto's eyes widened, instantly understanding what she meant to do. Kage Bunshin memory assimilation was a very painful and uncomfortable experience. "Wait—!" Anything else he might have said was cut off as his body was enveloped in bright white light and he was sent off towards another world.

Kami smiled to herself, staring at the spot one of her favorite people across the worlds had just stood. "He will continue to make me proud, I am sure of it."

* * *

Naruto grunted as he felt himself fall from a moderate distance to land roughly on the ground. He had a massive headache from all the knowledge being forced into his mind. Not just on abilities of his new powers, but every bit of knowledge that the former owner, Gokudera Hayato, had ever known. He had never heard of or known about most of these things, like the food known as 'pizza' or the item called 'cell phone', but he did now. The knowledge of several different languages was rapidly assimilated into his brain as well, including the one everyone from his world spoke, which was apparently known as 'Japanese'.

Naruto was so busy trying to understand and sort all the new knowledge he'd been given, that he was unaware of anything happening around him, even as a three boys started approaching his fallen form in the alleyway. "Hey, check out this guy. Bet those rings of his are worth something."

"Check out the belt buckle too! A gem that size might be worth thousands!"

"Only one way to find out." The three boys knelt down around the blonde and started trying to pull the rings and belt buckle off but found they could not.

"Hey, what the hell?! It's like, stuck or something!"

"Just pull harder, even if you have to rip the guy's fingers off too."

A girl hiding in the shadows at the other end of the alley frowned and raised her right hand up towards the muggers. "Azarath Metrion Zinthos!"

The three of them yelled in surprise as their bodies were surrounded in black energy and lifted off the ground. With a sudden jerk, they were slammed into the left wall, falling into the dumpster beneath them. A second tendril of black energy slammed the lid down atop them and locked it in place.

She slowly walked out of the shadows and knelt down beside the boy. What those thieves had either not seen or ignored, was that this boy's eyes were open. She saw the concentration in them and was a little surprised. He was probably thinking or concentrating on something so hard, he shut out the world around him. She stepped back as she saw the focus from the boy's eyes dimming, meaning he was finished or close to it.

Naruto sat up and gripped the sides of his head, cursing under his breath at the massive headache he was currently experiencing. He had never taken in that much information before, and it felt as if his head might split open. "It might have saved me time, but I'm still not sure the pain was worth it. Scratch that, the pain was _definitely_ not worth it," Naruto said as he felt another painful jolt inside his head. Standing up shakily, he turned around and saw a pair of eyes watching him from the shadows of the alley behind him.

He brought up his right hand and prepared to defend himself, until the person walked out into the light. It was a girl. He couldn't see much about her, as her form was covered by a dark blue cloak, which included a hood to cover her face. All he could see were a pair of matching blue boots on her feet, two long thin legs, oddly enough with gray skin, and a circular black and red jewel set in a gold plate that seemed to keep the cloak attached around her. "Um…hello?"

"Whatever you were thinking about, maybe you should do it at home next time. You were so out of it, that a trio of thieves walked right up to your body and tried to steal your rings and belt buckle," the girl informed him emotionlessly. Her voice was not cold or callous. It wasn't anything at all.

Naruto blinked and made sure he still had said items before looking around for the thieves. In response, the girl pointed to her left where a giant black dumpster was pressed against the wall. He headed over and gave it a swift kick, which resulted in a pained groan coming from inside. "Thanks, I owe you one. And well, I was… forcibly given a lot of knowledge and my brain had to sort it all out first. It… wasn't pleasant." Naruto smiled and held out a hand to the girl. "I'm Naruto."

The girl looked down at the hand for a moment, before glancing up at the boy, seeing only sincerity in his eyes. His bright ocean blue eyes. She held out her right hand and clasped it in his lightly, before reaching up to lower her hood. "I'm Raven. And don't mention it."

Now that he could, Naruto took the chance to look at the girl in front of him. She had short violet hair and matching violet eyes. On her forehead was a small diamond-shaped gemstone, and as he'd seen with her hand and legs, her face was a light gray color. He suddenly heard several loud crashes coming from the street behind him. Turning around, he saw a red-haired woman with glowing green eyes trying to smash her hands into a boy who was struggling to avoid her attacks. There was some kind of metal casing around the woman's arms, preventing her from moving them freely, though it did not seem to restrict her strength, as she had just created a small crater in the road with her bound arms.

It looked as if the woman was the aggressor in this situation, and the casing on her arms might indicate she was an escaped prisoner. "Well, what better way to test out my new abilities than with a live combat exercise?" Clenching his right hand into a fist, the red ring on his hand lit up with a small flame surrounding it, flickering brighter than one would expect from such a small flame. He unclenched his fist and ran his right palm over the belt buckle, causing it to glow red, before enveloping him in a bright red flash.

Raven raised her cloak to shield her eyes from the intense red light. Perhaps now she knew why those muggers could not steal Naruto's rings or buckle. As the light died down, she raised her eyebrows slightly in surprise at his change in appearance.

Naruto's hair which had been a bright blonde now had crimson red tips and streaks running through it, giving it the appearance of a flame. He had a pair of thick orange sunglasses around his eyes, which distorted the blue color of his eyes slightly. Crisscrossing over his chest in an X pattern were two long bands of tubes, each held together by a large silver buckle with a red flame pattern rising up from the bottom.

His right arm from the elbow down was now covered by a thick silver gauntlet, also sporting the same blazing fire pattern on it. The gauntlet ended in a sharp spike extending out over his knuckles, on the back of which appeared to be some kind of vent. The buckle on his belt had also changed, expanding to a much larger size, and losing the leopard and crown motif she'd noticed. Attached around his belt were more of the same tubes that were over his chest. Hanging down from the main belt at an angle, were two loops that rested just beneath his hips on either side. Counting to herself, Raven realized there were eight red boxes in total, with four on each loop.

Strapped just above each knee was a slim metal plate holding two small metal balls, and two smaller bands of tubes. Finally on each of his ankles and feet, some kind of boot-like armor had formed with vents on the side and the same distinct flame pattern rising up along the front. She surmised those were for hovering or flying. She thought she had seen everything until she finally spotted the device on his left arm. It looked like a cannon, and had an open-mouthed skull at each end, though the skull at the back had two small sliver hands grasping each side of it.

"Woah." Raven muttered tonelessly, more impressed with the skull cannon than the entire rest of Naruto's new outfit.

Naruto inspected his form and laughed. "This is awesome! Alright, time to test this out." He glanced over his shoulder at Raven and grinned. "Feel like joining?"

She raised a single eyebrow. "What makes you think I can?"

"You took care of three muggers alone without any injuries while I was out. So, I say prove to me you can't." Naruto stated with a confident smirk.

Raven rolled her eyes at that type of argument, but nodded nonetheless. Though she wouldn't admit it, she was now a bit curious about Naruto. She wasn't sure why. He just had that quality about him that intrigued her. "Lead on."

* * *

Robin frowned at the obviously alien girl across from him who'd been wrecking her way through downtown Jump City. She was fast and she was strong, incredibly so. He wasn't sure he could take a strike from her if she used her full strength. His eyes widened in shock as the girl picked up a car with just her foot, sending it into the air only to kick it towards him as it fell back down.

Robin dove to the ground quickly, feeling the wind as the car passed less than a foot above him, where it continued on to crash into a building three blocks away. "Hmm… stronger than she looks," he muttered. He turned back to face her, only to see her charging at him and smashing her trapped arms into his chest, sending him rolling down the road.

Robin rolled away just as she came crashing down into the spot he had just occupied, and pulled out a metal pole from his belt, which extended into a full bo-staff. He sprinted towards her and smashed the staff into her left shoulder, knocking her into a car, which crumpled from the impact. He readied the staff to defend against her retaliation, only for it to break apart in his hands.

The girl pulled herself off of the car and cracked her neck to the right with a smirk. "Zota," she said, which Robin inferred was a challenge from her tone of voice, something akin to 'not bad'.

She flew towards him with her arms raised above her head, only to be blasted out of the air into the wall by a beam of red light. Glancing to his right. Robin saw a blonde boy hovering in the air, red flames being expelled from the bottom of his boots, and smoke rising from the cannon on his left arm, indicating it had just been fired. "Nice shot," Robin complimented.

The blonde smirked and pointed over Robin's shoulder, prompting him to turn and see the girl getting back up, though there was smoke now rising from her body as a result of that blast. She shook her head to clear it and once again tried to charge at Robin, only this time she was smacked out of the air by a green ram of all things.

The ram shifted form in midair, transforming into a green-skinned boy in purple and black tights with a matching mask. "Ex-Doom Patrol member, Beast Boy sir! How can I help?" The boy said, saluting Robin like a superior officer. When he took the time to look at who it was he was saluting, his eyes widened in awe. "Wowzers, you're Robin aren't you sir?"

"Well, you can start by not calling me sir," Robin said.

Beast Boy was now looking at Robin with such awe and respect, that it made Robin cringe a little. "Well, let me just say it's a real honor to be—"

"Beast Boy, was it?" Robin asked for confirmation just as the blonde from earlier landed down to his right, along with a blue-cloaked girl.

"Yes, sir?" Beast Boy asked excitedly.

Robin simply pointed to his left, where the red-haired girl from before was now lifting a bus above her head in preparation for a throw.

"Azarath Met—"

"No time, Raven! Move!" Naruto grabbed Raven's hand and quickly flew to the right, while Robin and Beast Boy jumped away to the left and right respectively just as the bus soared through the air where they'd been standing. Before the bus landed, a man covered head to toe in thick clothing which hid his features except for a glowing red left eye, jumped onto the road and caught the bus in his arms, getting pushed pack several feet for his efforts. He lifted it up to gain a better hold and dropped it onto the road beside him. "Yo! Who's here messing up my neighborhood?!"

"She started it." Beast Boy said, pointing at the red-haired girl across from the five of them.

The girl took a few steps forward before slamming her arms into the road, shaking the ground enough to send the three on the ground falling over from a loss of balance. When they managed to stand up again, they saw that the metal casing around her arms was smashed off, revealing a second bracer holding her arms together underneath, though her hands were now free.

Naruto set Raven down on the ground as he hovered over the group of four below him. He frowned in confusion when the girl raised her bound arms up at them, until he saw a green glow start forming around her fists. "Move!"

A rain of green energy blasts shot out of her hands towards the four still on the ground, kicking up more smoke. Naruto coughed, and forced more flames out of his boots, sending him flying towards the girl, while the other four started running, or in Raven's case flying, out of the smoke beneath him. He pulled three sticks of dynamite out of the tubes on his chest, and held them between the fingers of his right hand, as the fuses were suddenly lit with bright red flames. With a grunt, he sent them soaring through the air, the unique flames suddenly blazing in midflight. The sticks of dynamite then accelerated and turned sharply, so that they were heading straight for her from three different directions.

Three simultaneous explosions obscured her form in a cloud of smoke, just as Robin sent three flying disks into the cloud, which exploded seconds later. A lamppost surrounded by black energy then swung into the cloud like a hockey stick, and sent the girl flying out with a loud crash, her body smashing into the pavement roughly.

Beast Boy shifted into a large green rhino and prepared to charge, but was stopped by a screen of black energy from Raven. "Wait, look." The girl was slowly sitting up, and did not appear to be severely injured from the last onslaught of attacks. Rather than continue her attack, she simply sat on the road staring at her bound arms.

Naruto slowly cut off the flow of flames to his boots and landed down on the ground with a soft thud. "It doesn't look like she wants to fight anymore."

"Maybe she never did," Raven commented.

Robin frowned, thinking it over. It was worth a shot at least. "Stand down," he ordered the other four.

"What, do you think you're the boss or something?" The man with the red eye asked.

"Just give me a chance." Robin started walking across the road towards the girl, only for her to suddenly leap up and aim her glowing green fists at his chest. He held his hands up in the sign of surrender. "Easy. My name is Robin, and I don't want to hurt you. I just want to help." Careful not to move too suddenly, he brought his right hand down to the yellow belt fastened around his waist.

"Gokta! Gokta bu ogna!" The girl yelled, her eyes and fists glowing brighter in warning.

"It's okay, look." Robin held up what he'd reached for: a lock pick. He waited until she lowered her arms before he approached and started working the lock on the binders. After a few seconds, they fell to the ground with a loud clang, allowing the girl to rub her wrists to regain feeling in them.

"There. Now maybe we can be—"

Robin was cut off as the girl suddenly pulled him in for a kiss. It only lasted a moment before she broke away and pushed him to the ground. "If you wish not to be destroyed, you will leave me alone."

Robin could do nothing but watch as she flew off to who knew where, leaving a partially destroyed city behind.

"Well, whoever she was, the girl sure knows how to make an impression." The man with the red eye stated, looking around at the destruction left in her wake.

"I think we made a pretty good impression," Beast Boy stated with a smile. "Crazy space girl's gone, the city's saved, mission accomplished. Right, sir?"

"Seriously, stop calling me that." Robin requested, irritated.

"Roger." Beast Boy said with a salute.

Shaking his head, Robin started walking off in the direction the girl had flown. "Looks like we're done here. I appreciate the help."

"You're going after her, aren't you?" Naruto asked him knowingly.

"I have to find out if she's a threat," Robin stated in confirmation.

"More like find out if she'll give him another kiss," the man with the red eye muttered, before he too started stalking off in the opposite direction with Beast Boy following after him like a lost puppy.

Naruto chuckled under his breath, and decided to follow Robin. A girl like that loose in the city could mean innocents would get hurt. Even if she herself wasn't a threat, she might still indirectly harm others. Glancing to his left, he saw Raven walking beside him.

"I'm… curious about your powers, Naruto." She answered his questioning glance, drawing her hood down over her face once more.

"Oh, well I'll tell you what. Once we stop that girl—"

"Or whoever's after her," Raven interrupted, only for Naruto to appear lost as to her meaning. "She had binders on her arms. Either she was a dangerous prisoner, or she was an innocent who got captured. Either way, someone will come to retrieve her."

A large shadow suddenly appeared beneath them, shutting up Naruto before he replied. Glancing up, the two of them saw a large ship passing over the city and heading for the bay. "Speak of the devil," Raven said.

The massive ship stopped just above a small island just off the coast and dropped down a large orange pod. Projected up from the top was the holographic image of a giant lizard-like alien. "People of earth, we come to your planet hunting an escaped prisoner. A very dangerous prisoner. Do not interfere, and we will leave your city with only minimal damage. But if you attempt to assist her, your destruction will be absolute." Having delivered its warning, the hologram shut down and the pod began opening up, revealing a small army of the aliens inside.

"They _really_ want her back, don't they?" Naruto asked, watching the aliens fly out of the pod and into the city. Even from this distance, he could already hear the faint sounds of explosions going off.

"They told us not to interfere," Raven said, seeing the look forming on Naruto's face. He was eager to get in the fight.

"Yeah, with a threat." Naruto scoffed. "Why would I listen to that? I've lost count of all the people that have threatened me before. It never works." He glanced over at Robin who was clenching his fists. "You think you'll need help searching for the girl?"

"I suppose I could team up… just this once." Robin said with a smirk. They started heading off into the city, only for Raven to stop suddenly and turn away.

Naruto froze and turned back, heading over to Raven who was no longer walking with them. "Raven? What's wrong? Aren't you coming?"

Raven looked up into Naruto's concerned eyes and glanced away. "I-I'm not the hero type. Stopping the girl from rampaging was one thing, but this… I just can't. Trust me Naruto, if you knew what I really am, you wouldn't want me around." She stated, turning her back on him, only to feel a hand on her shoulder. Glancing back, she saw Naruto smiling reassuringly at her.

"I've said those very words myself a long time ago, so I know that isn't true. There's nothing you could do that would make me dislike or hate you. I promise." Naruto took his hand off her shoulder and held it out to her instead. "Now, are you coming?"

Raven stared at his hand for a few seconds, before placing her own in his with a slight smile, and allowing him to pull her into the air. "Lead on."

* * *

The group of five hid behind a building as they watched the aliens tear apart everything that could hide the girl they were searching for. Thankfully, it appeared as if the civilians had long fled the scene, leaving no innocents behind to get hurt. "Alright," Robin finally said to the others behind him. "We need a way to track—"

"She's near." Raven cut in. Upon receiving four confused looks, she suddenly looked nervous. "I can sense things…"

"Pretty useful talent to have," Naruto complimented, receiving an embarrassed, but grateful look from the cloaked girl.

"I'll see if I can pick up her scent!" Beast Boy announced, suddenly shifting into a green blood hound and sniffing the ground around them.

"There's a sonic analyzer built into my arm," the boy, who'd told them to call him Cyborg, said. "If she's around, I'll hear it."

"I've got her trail!" Beast Boy announced before shifting back into a bloodhound and taking off.

"And I can hear her heartbeat," Cyborg confirmed.

Robin nodded and ran after Beast Boy, who was leading them through the city while keeping them out of sight from the aliens. It wasn't long before they arrived at the video rental store, which now had a large hole burned through the formerly locked doors. Walking in cautiously, they saw the girl from before rapidly grabbing and devouring all the food stocked on the shelves, wrappers and all.

"Um, those taste better without the wrapper," Beast Boy joked.

The girl dropped the half empty bucket of popcorn in her hand and turned around with a growl, two large green globes of energy held in her hands. Robin held up his hands in surrender just as he'd done before while the others remained behind him, allowing him to take the lead on this one. He was the one she probably recognized the most anyways. "Wait, we're friends, remember?"

"Friends? Why? For what purpose did you free me?" The girl asked them as she slowly advanced on the group.

"Just… trying to be nice," Robin explained.

"Nice?" The girl asked, testing out the word. "We do not have this word on my planet. Closest is rutha, weak!"

"Well, around here nice means nice! And if you want us to keep being nice, you better tell us why the lizard king took you prisoner!" Cyborg said.

That did it. The girl's eyes and hands were no longer glowing, nor were they aimed at the group in warning. Now that he had a clear view, Naruto noticed that the girl's eyes were completely green. Not just green pupils, but what should have been white was also green. "Not prisoner. I am… prize." The girl explained sadly. "The Gordanians deliver me to the Citadel, to live out my days as their servant."

"And the Citadel are…?" Raven prompted.

"Not. Nice." The girl confirmed.

"Then you're not going with them. Not if I have anything to say about it." Robin said.

"Um, don't you mean we?" Beast Boy asked.

A powerful explosion blew apart the left wall and sent the six of them flying into the video shelves. Standing outside the massive hole in the video store were several spear wielding Gordanians.

"Seize her!"

That was the call to attack from both sides, as the Gordanians rushed in to recapture the girl, while the six teens charged in to attack. Cyborg leapt into the air and smashed his fists down onto the back of a flying Gordanian, sending him to the ground and out of the fight. Beast Boy charged straight down the center as a Rhino and smacked seven of them into the walls of the store at once.

Naruto turned the rear skull on his arm cannon to the right and ignited the yellow ring on his hand, before inserting the lit ring into a box hanging down on his right hip. The box instantly opened up and released a long ammunition belt which he shoved into the mouth of the rear skull. He raised his left arm and smirked, firing a barrage of golden bullets at the oncoming Gordanians from the cannon.

Several of them raised their spears with glowing blue energy forming at the tips. So, they intended to shoot them out of the air. "Try it if you can!" Naruto taunted. The golden bullets were suddenly engulfed in bright yellow flames, and accelerated in midflight. However, the bullets were no longer simply flying straight, but weaving through the air towards the Gordanians in an irregular and unpredictable pattern for, try as they might, the Gordanians were unable to shoot down even a single bullet. "Boom." Naruto smirked as the group was forcefully blasted away from the opening in the wall, and sent flying through the wall of the building across the street.

Glancing to his left, he saw Raven hurl three video shelves into charging Gordanians, with Robin leaping off the one he'd been riding to launch three disks into a group which instantly froze them solid in ice. He glanced over at the girl just in time to see her blasted out through a wall by a shot from the end of a spear. The others broke off their fights and quickly flew after the girl, who was throwing those green energy bolts from her hands to take down as many as she could.

So focused was she on the ones flying out of the store, that she did not notice another from outside until it sent a punch to her back, dropping her down to the road. It then landed down in front of her and aimed the glowing blue spear tip at her face, ready to subdue her, only for Robin to toss the one he was grappling with into its side, sending both Gordanians crashing into a mailbox.

The rear skull on the back of Naruto's cannon automatically popped back into its original position, as Naruto allowed the ammunition belt to get sucked back into the open box it was released from. He ignited the purple ring on his finger and inserted it into a different box on his right belt loop, releasing a thin black cartridge, which he then inserted into the skull's mouth as ammunition.

Flying out through the wall, he took aim at a group of Gordanians targeting Robin and fired. This time, the cannon fired a thin red beam with a purple border surrounding it. Spotting the incoming attack, the Gordanians released the charge they were holding in their spears and prepared to dodge the beam. That is, until it started splitting and branching out until it was wide enough to catch the whole group in its blast. The group was covered in smoke, but Naruto knew they had not avoided the attack, when six smoking and unconscious bodies plummeted to the ground.

Cyborg released a strong left hook into one of the Gordanian's chins, knocking it out of the fight, but had to retreat as three more took its place and started firing at him. Though he was able to keep out of their range for a while, they eventually backed him against a car and focused their fire on him. When they stopped, Cyborg stood up unharmed from their attack, though the clothes he'd been wearing were in tatters around him, revealing that he was half-man and half-machine underneath. Cyborg jumped forward and smashed his fist into the shaft of a spear, snapping it in half like a twig, before picking up the Gordanian with ease and tossing him into a flying group of six others, causing them all to crash down into the road.

Just as more Gordanians started arriving and fired at Cyborg, Raven ripped out another lamppost and swung it into the group, striking five directly across the chest and sending them arcing through the sky to crash through the ceiling of three separate buildings.

The ten Gordanians that were still able to fight suddenly flew off and started retreating back towards the pod they'd come from.

"I believe your expression is… thanks." The girl said to them.

"Aw man, my suit's ruined," Cyborg grumbled, ripping off the tattered remains of his sweatshirt from around his chest and arms.

"So? You look way cooler without it." Beast Boy complimented with a thumbs up.

"Yeah… like I'm taking fashion advice from the guy in the goofy mask." Cyborg replied.

"Goofy?" Beast Boy asked sadly. "My mask is cool… isn't it? Raven? Naruto?"

Cyborg, Raven, and Naruto all shook their heads.

"But, what about my secret identity?" Beast Boy asked, clutching his mask like a lifeline.

"How can you have a secret identity if you're the only human with green skin?" Naruto asked rhetorically.

"Um…ah…hmm…" Unable to find a reply to Naruto's question, he took off the mask and tossed it aside, revealing he also had green hair to match his skin, further proving Naruto's point.

"This isn't over." Robin informed them seriously. "Now that we've interfered—"

"Trogaar will strike harder." The girl finished his sentence. "It is only a matter of—"

But she did not have to finish that thought, for another large projection of the same Gordanian from before appeared in the sky. "Fools! The earth scum were warned. Your insolence will be punished. Your city shall be destroyed!"

As if to prove the threat was real, the massive ship holding position above the pod flew over the city and angled itself down so that its main cannon was targeting the heart of the city, where the greatest number of people would be killed.

"So… after trashing the pizza place and a perfectly good video store, now we've managed to make a humongous space gecko mad enough to vaporize our entire town?!" Beast Boy exclaimed.

"Go team…" Cyborg said sarcastically.

"All the fault is yours!" The girl yelled at Robin. "I commanded you leave me alone, but you insisted upon the 'being nice'!"

"My fault?! You blast me, you kiss me, but you never stopped to mention they have a gigantic particle weapon?!" Robin yelled back, counting off on his fingers the things he blamed her for.

"We're doomed! I can't believe I let you talk me into this!" Beast Boy said, pointing an accusing finger at Cyborg.

"What?! I was ready to walk before you started following me around and asking me to hang out with you!" Cyborg countered.

Naruto watched other four arguing with rapt attention, treating it almost like a show and rooting for Robin and Cyborg in their respective arguments.

"QUIET!" Raven shouted, stopping the other four midsentence in their arguments. Seeing five curious looks, she suddenly smiled shyly and waved. "Hi…"

Robin took a deep breath to calm himself down before addressing the other five members of this 'team'. "Look, it doesn't matter how we got into this mess. We're in it, and we **will** get out of it. Together." He finished, looking each one of them in the eye to accentuate his point, receiving five confident nods of agreement.

"I assume you have a plan then." Naruto said, pulling the cartridge out of his cannon and resealing it back into its box.

"I do," Robin confirmed. "We've got to get onto that ship and shut down that main gun before it obliterates the city. If we take down the ship while we're at it, even better. That'll stop the Gordanians from pursuing her." He explained, gesturing with his head at the girl standing beside him.

"They'll see us coming miles away. And only four of us can fly. If they have to carry you and I up to the ship as well, it'll leave them even more vulnerable," Cyborg pointed out.

"A distraction then! To draw the attention of the Gordanians away while the others reach the ship!" The girl proposed.

Raven hesitantly coughed into her fist, catching everyone's attention. "Um, no need. I can get everyone inside safely. You just have to crowd around me so I can start."

Robin smiled, and walked over to Raven alongside the others. "Then let's go. We have a city to save."

* * *

Inside the massive ship, a large dome of dark energy emerged, and released the group of six into one of many corridors. Beast Boy shivered uncomfortably once he was released from the dome. "That dark energy stuff gives me the—" He stopped at the look Raven, and oddly enough Naruto, were giving him. "—Uh, I mean, it's cool!" He smiled nervously, and let out a sigh of relief when they let the matter drop and turned away.

Robin peeked around the corner and saw a patrol group turn around the corner to his left, leaving the corridor empty and silent. "We have to get to the firing controls. We don't have much time." Instead of following the Gordanians to the left, he turned right, and started heading towards the door they must have just come from, with the girl, Beast Boy, and Cyborg following his lead. Naruto made to follow, but stopped when he saw Raven looking at their backs forlornly.

"What's wrong, Raven?" Naruto asked in concern.

Raven sighed softly and refused to meet his gaze. "You heard him, I don't exactly fit in."

Naruto shook his head and slid his left arm around her shoulders comfortingly, and felt relieved when she did not shrug it off. That meant she was at least willing to listen. "Beast Boy is green, Cyborg is half-robot, and that girl we're here to save is from space. As for me well… I died once already."

"What?" Raven asked in shock, looking over Naruto's body for injuries, but found none. "How?"

"I'll tell you later, when I tell you about my powers." Naruto said hastily. He mentally berated himself for saying that, but she reminded him of himself so much. "But Raven, the point I'm trying to make is that, you fit into this group just as well as any of us do. If you're worried about being shunned, I promise you that I'll always be by your side."

Raven finally met his blue eyes with her violet ones, and shook her head lightly with a smile. She could tell he meant every word he'd said to her. He really didn't think badly of her, and he wasn't scared of her either. But her empathy let her know that he _did_ care. "Thanks. Now let's go fry up some lizards, huh?"

She floated after the others, leaving Naruto to chuckle as he flew after her.

* * *

"I bring you a-pol-uh-gy" the girl said to Robin as he hid behind the wall, waiting for the Gordanian patrol at the other end of the intersecting corridor to pass.

"Don't worry about it," he said casually. "I'm sorry I yelled too."

"And again you are, nice." The girl said with a smile. "On my world, only my knorfka has shown me such kindness."

"Well, things are different here." Robin said, returning her smile, and bringing a blush to the girl's cheeks.

"Uh guys?" Beast Boy interrupted. "I think they know we're here!" He pointed over their shoulders at the door they were heading for, as four Gordanians rushed out. At the other end of the corridor, four more Gordanians came and blocked off their retreat path, each of them brandishing their spears at the group.

Naruto frowned and pulled out three sticks of dynamite with each hand, lighting their fuses with his red flames, and launched them at the two patrol groups. Just like before, the red flames on the fuses suddenly burned stronger, giving the dynamite faster acceleration, reaching their targets in just under two seconds. Two massive explosions echoed through the halls, but when the smoke cleared, it was revealed that Raven had shielded the entire group in another dome of dark energy, earning grateful looks from Robin, Cyborg and Beast Boy, and a knowing smile from Naruto that made her hide her face further in her hood.

With no enemies in the vicinity left to stop them, Robin ran up to the door and pressed his ear against it to make sure this was the right room.

"The earth scum shall learn. It takes more than six juvenile heroes to defy the mighty Lord Trogaar!"

He nodded to the others and pulled out a breaching charge from his belt, placing it against the door. The charge started beeping, slowly at first, but then progressively faster as it got closer to the end of its countdown. A moment later, the charge blew apart the door and the six of them moved in, spotting the control room for the ship and main gun. "We're not six heroes. We're one team."

The few Gordanian guards left, charged forward at Trogaar's roar of anger. Robin ran forward and leapt into the air, slamming his left foot into the side of a Gordanian's face with a kick and sent it flying into the wall. Cyborg leapt into the air and slammed his fists down on the ground, sending out a shockwave that knocked three of them into the air, where Beast Boy as a kangaroo kicked them away with his powerful legs. Raven caught them in tendrils of dark energy and used them to bat aside three that were flying towards Naruto from behind.

Naruto injected a stick of dynamite into the rear skull's mouth and started firing pure red shots at the charging Gordanians, blasting them off their feet and sending them towards the ones attacking Robin. Eventually Trogaar was the only one left standing, as he charged in at Naruto and smashed his fist into the blonde's chest with all his strength, knocking him back against the wall, forcing the air and some blood out of Naruto's lungs. Trogaar ran towards the temporarily downed boy to finish the job, but was stopped by Raven, who swiped her hand through the air, creating screens of dark energy to block each punch the Gordanian sent.

Trogaar finally managed to smash through the dark energy, sending Raven to the ground as well. Before he could attack her any further, Robin leapt onto his back, locking his arms around Trogaar's neck as the Gordanian tried to shake him off. Trogaar managed to grab Robin and toss him off, only for the skilled acrobat to flip about in midair and land on his feet. Not losing any momentum, Robin charged forward and delivered a powerful uppercut to Trogaar's chin, knocking him back several steps. He then leapt into the air and sent his right foot sailing into Trogaar's face with an even stronger kick. However, when he charged in to deliver yet another punch, he was grabbed out of the air, and thrown against the far wall of the control room, his body impacting against it with an echoing ring.

"Robin!" The girl cried out in worry. She turned her furious green eyes on Trogaar, and started releasing numerous bolts at the Gordanian, which he blocked with his arm. With a roar, Trogaar leapt into the air and tackled the girl to the floor, pinning her down with one hand. He smashed her against the wall and the floor in succession, but was stopped from doing any more by a powerful punch to the face from the girl.

Finished with his targets, Cyborg dashed forward and smashed his fist into Trogaar's face, pushing him away from the girl. Together, the two of them delivered numerous blows to his body, unrelenting in their assault. Trogaar backed up a few steps to give himself room and smirked, not appearing injured in the slightest. He punched Cyborg in what would have been his gut, bending the metallic teen over his hand, before smacking the girl out of the air with his other hand.

The two of them landed beside Robin, who was slowly getting up. When Cyborg landed, Robin noticed that several parts on Cyborg's right arm popped up before setting themselves back into place. "Can you rewire that into some kind of weapon?"

"I can try." Cyborg said, but trailed off as he saw, not only Trogaar, but every Gordanian in the control room they'd defeated back up and ready to finish them.

"Get away from my friends!" Raven yelled, hefting Naruto up with his left arm over her shoulder. "Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" Every panel in the control room was now glowing back and simultaneously exploded, along with the ceiling above them. The ship started plummeting and crashed into the ocean, yet still managed to stay afloat.

This time, the other Gordanians were out for sure, but Trogaar was not. Furious, he got up and started stalking towards Raven and Naruto like a predator ready to finally devour its prey. The three claws on each of his fingers extended nearly a foot, more than enough to rip them to shreds. Naruto raised his cannon on the other side of Raven to fire at Trogaar, but heard an empty click. Each stick of dynamite was worth about ten shots before it needed replacing, and he must have used them up already and hadn't replaced it. At this distance, he wouldn't have enough time to unlock any of his specialized ammo before they were shredded.

Trogaar must have realized something along those lines as well, for he smirked and raised his right claw to deliver the killing blow. He was stopped when a bright blue beam blasted into his back, finally knocking the tough Gordanian out cold. Behind him, Cyborg stood with his right arm raised, now resembling a cannon instead of a hand.

"Alright, I'm only going to say this once. Booyah!"

* * *

The remains of the Gordanian ship had sunk to the bottom of the ocean from the amount of damage it had taken, though the Gordanians had been hauled off to the city's prison by Raven and Naruto, while Robin and Cyborg worked on a project they would not reveal to the others until it was completed. The pod the Gordanians had sent down remained untouched, but only because the group was unsure what to do with it yet. They worked through the night, and when everything was done, they stood on the island and watched the sun rise over the city they'd just saved.

"That's… quite a view." Raven said, a hint of awe in her voice.

"Somebody ought to build a house out here." Cyborg commented.

"Yeah, if you like sunshine, and the beach…" Beast Boy said, elbowing Raven gently in the side, getting a slight chuckle from her.

"You know, you're kind of funny." She said.

"You think I'm funny?" Beast Boy asked with stars in his eyes. "Oh, dude I know some jokes!"

"Don't push it," Raven said, slightly unnerved about how forward he was after such a little compliment, and took a step back towards Naruto.

"Please, I look… nice?"

The five of them turned around to see the girl had changed into a new outfit, consisting of a sleeveless purple top showing her midriff, a matching purple mini-skirt, and thigh-high purple boots.

"I still don't know your name." Robin said, when no one else commented.

"In your language, it would be Star…fire." The girl now known as Starfire said, walking forward to stand in front of Robin.

"Welcome to earth, Starfire." Robin said warmly.

Starfire returned the smile and looked at all of them smiling at her. "I thank you all, for your bravery and help. And I wish to ask permission. To remain here, where the people are most strange, but also most… kind." She finished, looking straight at Robin. The two of them looked away, bright red tinges adorning their cheeks.

"You don't need our permission," Naruto informed her.

"But if you want our friendship, you've got it." Robin stated.

"Guess we could all use some new friends," Cyborg chimed in.

"Besides, we kind of made a good team." Beast Boy said with a large grin.

"I thought we might wanna keep in touch, so Cyborg and I designed these." Robin pulled out four circular yellow devices and handed one to Starfire, Raven, Beast Boy and Naruto.

"So this is what you two were working on last night while Raven and I were left with trash duty," Naruto said, inspecting the device curiously, not quite sure what it was.

"Yeah, Cyborg made them out of his own circuits." Robin confirmed. "By the way, what's your superhero name Naruto? I can't keep using your real name in public like this."

Naruto stopped inspecting the device and looked up, confused. "What do you mean? What's wrong with my name?"

"Nothing, but you need to hide your secret identity, you know? Here in Jump City, Naruto will be a rather unique name." Robin placated.

"You just called Starfire, Starfire though. Raven is Raven's real name too, right?" Naruto asked, pointing out the two girls in question.

"Yeah, well… Starfire kinda does sound like a superhero name already, you know? And did you see that giant bird Raven made out of dark energy last night when you two were transporting the Gordanians? People will just assume it's related to her powers." Robin explained.

"Hmm…what about Robin? Isn't that a real name?" Naruto asked, accepting the reasons for Starfire and Raven, but not really willing to just give up on the matter, stubborn as he was.

"Robin is a real name for a _girl_." Robin said.

Before Naruto could respond, Beast Boy rushed up and whispered into his ear, drawing a large grin on the blonde's face. "Oh is that so? Thanks, I was having doubts for a while last night because of your choice in…tights."

Robin froze, and narrowed his eyes. "Are you calling me a girl, Naruto?"

"If the tights fit," Naruto responded, now getting whispers from Cyborg.

Robin gritted his teeth and marched up to Naruto, looking him in the eye through the sunglasses. "Say. That. Again."

"If the tight_**s**_… fi_**t**_." Naruto said, stressing the end of each word at Cyborg's urging. He wasn't sure why they told him to do this, but it was starting to be pretty funny. Robin was taking it way too seriously.

Struggling very hard not to sock the smirking blonde, Robin took several breaths and calmed himself down. "Just… pick a name for yourself to hide your identity."

Seeing that he wasn't going to let this go, Naruto sighed and started racking his brain for a name. Something from Gokudera's memories stuck out and he figured it was pretty good. "Fine, call me Arashi no Shugosha."

"Dude, was that Japanese? Cool! What does it mean?!" Beast Boy asked excitedly.

"It means Guardian of the Storm, but you can't use that." Robin explained to Beast Boy quickly before turning back to face Naruto. "First of all, you should pick something in English that other people will be able to pronounce and understand. Not everyone speaks Japanese. Second, it's way too long. You need something shorter and quicker. What if someone tries to warn you in the middle of a fight, but takes too long because of how long your name is?"

"Why not just call yourself Storm, then?" Raven suggested, starting to get a headache from the bickering.

Robin shut up and gave Naruto a look that said 'yeah, why don't you?'.

Naruto tapped his chin in thought, rolling it around in his mind for a few moments. Robin's points were all valid, and Storm sounded pretty good anyways. "Alright, you can call me Storm."

* * *

I'm sure some of you will know where Naruto got his powers from (Katekyo Hitman Reborn, which I don't own), so they know what these attacks and armor look like. Pictures will be on my profile in a few moments for those too lazy to look it up.

The reason I bother using Naruto _at all_ is his personality. Even without chakra or his abilities, what makes Naruto awesome is his personality. His ability to find the good in almost anyone and the drive to defend and protect anyone he treasures as an important person. He's also got a unique blend of attitude, humor, wit, and various other attributes that also make him who he is.

If I used Gokudera and wrote him this way, I'd have KHR fans crying out, "He's too OOC!" in protest. If you have a problem with my choice, too bad. Go write the story the way _you_ want. If you're willing to read mine, read it the way I intended it, please.

As always please read and review my story. I love reading them and having my fans critique my work.

This chapter was annoying to write, because I couldn't use names until the characters introduced themselves. As such, I may have overlooked some spelling issues that even spell-check missed. If you spot them, let me know and I'll fix it so the chapter isn't as annoying to read.


	2. Final Exam

I'm glad so many people liked my story and have been sending me questions and suggestions, but no, this is not a harem story. It's just Naruto X Raven.

No, obviously Naruto can not perform shunshin anymore or enhance his body with chakra. That does not mean he's _that_ much weaker. He still knows _how_ to fight with taijutsu, but he'll just have to rely on his own muscles instead of enhancing his punches and kicks with chakra. He has no more healing factor either, so he can't take the same nearly lethal hits as before.

And just so it's clear, when not in the tower, Naruto always has his armor on to keep his identity a secret.

* * *

It had been several months after the arrival of Starfire, that the Teen Titans had been formed. They had all gone their separate ways at first, until Robin had met with the mayor to ensure that, if they ever did need to act again, they'd have the full backing of the law on their side. The mayor had in fact been so grateful, that he'd given the six young heroes the deed to the island just off the bay for their personal use, as well as a monthly stipend for necessities, since they were all so young. When asked who to make the checks out to, Robin had grinned and informed him that they were the "Teen Titans".

Robin called the other five on the communicators he and Cyborg had created, and told them the news. From there, Cyborg had started construction on what he called Titans Tower, which would serve as their headquarters and home while defending Jump City from crime. Every member had put some work into constructing it, and started moving their things from their respective homes into the new tower, except for Starfire and Naruto, who didn't have anything to bring. Robin had been elected leader of the titans, but Naruto was chosen as second in command.

Cyborg had customized the tower to suit their needs, with enough rooms for each of them and plenty to spare should they ever find others to join the team. Robin's room had a queen-sized bed with blue sheets, one bookcase and several filing cabinets. Overall, it had a Spartan, dojo-sort of feel to it. There wasn't much decoration, if any, as the rest of the room was just white walls, and no paint on the plain brown cabinets.

Starfire's room was almost entirely pink or purple everywhere you looked. She had a large circular-shaped bed in the middle of the room with pink sheets that matched her curtains and the soft pink carpeting that lined the floor. She had a simple wooden dresser that Robin had built for her which was painted a dark purple that held what extra clothes she owned, mostly duplicates of her favorite outfit. She didn't have much else for now, but hoped to rectify that when she had the chance by visiting the earth building known as 'the mall of shopping'.

Barely a day into moving in, and Beast Boy's room was already a complete mess. He had a large bunk bed pressed against the wall with purple sheets, green paint on the walls and ceiling, a large wooden bookshelf, actually containing books to Raven's surprise, though they were mostly about monkeys, and a desk hidden under dirty clothes that had been tossed around haphazardly. None of the other titans would even enter his room unless it was absolutely necessary, and even then they'd rather bang on the door and yell first.

Cyborg's room was filled to the brim with electronics and technology of his own creation, including a system recharger for his artificial systems, a personal computer, and a TV. There was also a wall of photographs and a display case full of trophies, likely from before his accident. Finally, rather than a bed, there was a long computer table for Cyborg to sleep on while plugged into his system recharger.

Raven's room was dimly lit, as she refused to have lights installed, and simply had old lamps with candles inside hanging from her ceiling. There were several bookshelves lining the walls of her room, each one filled up to capacity with old, rare, and dusty tomes, and many mystical artifacts and sculptures scattered about as well. An ornate trunk sat just beside her closet door, opposite her dresser, above which a large pentagonal mirror hung. Her circular bed sat in the center of her room beside a single window overlooking the city, with an ornate headboard and purple-blue sheets, as well as a long purple carpet leading from her bed to the door. She had allowed the other titans into her room once to view it, before promptly kicking them all out, except for Naruto who she had simply asked to leave. Naruto had so far managed to avoid explaining his powers to her, as well as his comment about a previous death, but she was not about to give up so easily.

Naruto's room did not have many furnishings inside, but it was because he did not need much for himself. A simple king-sized bed sat against the back wall with black and red sheets, and two hooks to hang his belt on above it. On his bedside table, was a gray statue of a right hand which Raven had made for him, with the fingers spread apart to place his rings on as well, as he would wear neither the belt nor rings when he slept. He also had a large window to look out at the city which he now called his home, and a single dresser beside a closet. His room was the only one in the tower that had an attached bathroom, and that was only because he beat the others in a rock-paper-scissors game for it.

Anything and everything Cyborg could think of had gone into the rest of the tower. The living room, which also functioned as the Main Ops room, had flat panel computer displays, a fully furnished kitchen with a refrigerator, a massive TV, and the tower's power storage systems. It also housed the tower's main computer and communication suites. One wall was made entirely of glass from floor to ceiling, allowing the titans to look out over the bay and Jump City. There was also a garage, a gym, an infirmary, an evidence room and an obstacle course just outside the tower for training.

Everything needed for the perfect superhero headquarters, even if it was in plain sight for all to see.

* * *

"_The Hive Academy, for extraordinary young people, is proud to present this year's top graduates_."

The second the narrating voice stopped speaking, three people were lifted up standing on a bright yellow pillar that perfectly matched the honeycombed walls surrounding them. They all then leapt off and started running down the corridor.

The first was a small bald boy who wore a green jumpsuit with a round device strapped to his back, a small panel on his chest with three buttons, and a game controller on his waist acting as a belt.

"_Gizmo, the boy genius whose intellect can conquer any problem with an inventive solution_."

Gizmo smirked confidently and pushed the third button on his chest, releasing a pair of metal wings from the device strapped onto his back, and taking off into flight. From six different panels on the walls, turrets popped out and began firing at the airborne boy, but Gizmo easily maneuvered through the oncoming blasts, and fired several rockets from his harness, taking out all six turrets at once, and leaving the way clear to proceed.

The second was a girl who wore an off-the-shoulder black dress trimmed with blue ruffles, black-and-blue striped stockings, and black platform boots with blue soles. Her lavender hair was bound into two large horn-like tufts that stuck up above her ears. Her catlike eyes were the same shade of lavender, and her skin was an odd shade of silvery-gray.

"_Jinx, the enchanting sorceress whose powerful hexes mean bad luck for her enemies_."

Landing atop another pillar, the base of which was surrounded by combat drones, Jinx spun in place, releasing purple waves of energy towards the four turrets that had been released to fire at her. The four turrets shut down and disconnected from the wall, crashing down on the drones, completely destroying them. She back flipped off the pillar with the grace of a ballerina, just as three massive turrets rose out of the floor to aim at her.

"_And Mammoth, the genetically-enhanced giant, whose unstoppable strength speaks for itself_."

A large man with dark orange hair and goatee, wearing a single black suit with a bright yellow brace in the shape of an H on his chest, and matching wrist guards and boots, grabbed the turret's long silver barrel and ripped the entire device out of the ground. He spun around to gain momentum and tossed it down the corridor, sending the turret smashing into the remaining two, knocking them over and rendering them useless.

"_Well organized, highly trained, and combat equipped, these Hive agents are the perfect fighting force_."

Another combat drone appeared behind Mammoth, grabbing him in its large arms, only for Gizmo to land atop its back and slap an EMP charge on it, shutting down the drone's functions, and causing it to tumble over. Mammoth held his hands together, allowing Jinx to springboard off of them and cartwheel her way down the corridor, forcing the turrets on both sides to fire into each other. Gizmo and Mammoth landed down beside her, striking a pose as a team to signify the end of their run-through.

"_And, for the right price, this ideal team can be yours_."

The video shut off, leaving only the Hive Academy symbol on the screen, as an elderly woman stepped up. "Well, Mr. Slade?" She asked expectantly.

"Impressive. Truly. However, robots and obstacle courses only prove so much. My plans require operatives who can function in the real world. If your students are going to serve me, they'll have to pass one final exam." The man speaking explained simply, as he walked along a narrow walkway and sat down in a chair. His features were shrouded in shadows, leaving only his left eye to be seen, and his voice was cold and smooth, hinting at something dangerous like a cobra poised to strike. To his right were two spotlights, one shining down over the three students he had just witnessed, while the other was soon occupied by the woman trying to sell him their services.

"Destroy the Teen Titans… and then we'll talk."

The woman bowed in understanding as the two spotlights clicked off, leaving the room in complete and utter darkness.

* * *

"Aw man, come on! It's gotta be around here someplace!"

The living room was now covered in trash, and being messed up even further by both Cyborg and Beast Boy. Raven was reading on one of the couches, but was finding it more and more difficult, if not impossible, as Cyborg kept yelling.

"I can't believe this!" Cyborg yelled in frustration. "How could you lose the remote?!"

Beast Boy shifted back into his human form from a green blood hound and started throwing papers and books off the counter. "What makes you so sure I lost it?" he asked indignantly.

"Uh, 'cause you're you?" Cyborg asked as if it were obvious.

"Hey! Just because I lost that video game—" Beast Boy started.

"And the toothpaste, and my football, and the waffle iron," Cyborg reminded him, counting off on his fingers.

"Things disappear! How am I supposed to know where they go?" Beast Boy replied.

"Well how am I supposed to watch TV without a remote?!" Cyborg yelled at the changeling.

Raven, finally having had enough, slammed her book shut in irritation. "Simple. You just get up and change the channel."

Cyborg and Beast Boy looked at each other as if she'd suggested they head to China on foot. "Don't even joke like that," Cyborg said.

"I wasn't joking," Raven responded.

"Good, because it wasn't funny!" Cyborg yelled. "Now either help us look, or go back to reading your book—"

"This is a pointless argument over a useless device. You are wasting your energy and disrupting my concentration" Raven interrupted in annoyance, her eyebrow twitching, as she stalked over to the duo. Now the three of them were arguing, though Raven was making her points without raising her voice.

Robin, Starfire, and Naruto walked in to see the three of them arguing, and Raven looked ready to rip apart Cyborg and Beast Boy limb from limb with her powers. "Uh, did we miss something?" Naruto asked.

"We must mend their dispute by the sharing of unhealthy junk foods. I shall fetch them." Starfire announced as she flew over to the fridge, while Robin and Naruto headed over to the other three and tried to break things up. Beast Boy and Cyborg were desperately trying to sway Robin and Naruto onto their side by blaming the other for the missing remote. Somehow, insults toward their respective powers came into play, along with doubts about their sexual preferences and masculinity, causing the boys to start fighting, while Raven was trying to pull them apart, if only to reduce the noise.

Starfire cheerfully opened the fridge and looked inside for anything she could give to her friends to stop their feuding. But everything she could see was covered in a blue, fuzzy mold. As she scanned down the fridge, she saw the mold growing on the cheese appear as if it were coming alive and roaring at her. She squeaked in surprise and sent two starbolts sailing into the fridge, blowing the mold out all over the room, covering the five arguing titans.

They all promptly shut up and looked themselves over. Naruto's hand was digging into Beast Boy's cheek, Beast Boy's foot was pushing up against Naruto's chin, Cyborg's fist was grabbing both of their uniforms in tight grips, Robin was struggling to pull Cyborg back, and Raven was trying to pull Naruto away.

"Maybe we should just go out for pizza." Robin finally said, as he knew none of them would be willing to clean this up right now, and they'd never get through combat practice in their current state of mind.

* * *

"Black olive and mushrooms!"

"We need onions!"

"Pepperoni!"

"I would like anchovies!"

"Can we _please_ just order something?" Raven asked, having been forced to sit through the argument over toppings for the last fifteen minutes. She was thankful Naruto hadn't joined in, but that was either because the blonde was too busy watching the argument with his head bouncing back and forth like it was a tennis match, or he didn't know what any of the toppings were himself. Probably both.

"As long as it's vegetarian!" Beast Boy asserted.

"Come on, man! How can you deny me the all-meat experience?" Cyborg asked.

"Dude! I've _been_ most of those animals!" Beast Boy complained.

"I suggest a large pizza with pickles, bananas, and mint frosting." Starfire proposed innocently with a large smile. She received two deadpan expressions from Raven and Cyborg, and a disgusted look from Beast Boy. Though Naruto actually looked like he was considering it. He leaned over to Raven and opened his mouth, but she shook her head, already knowing the question. No, those three would _not_ taste good when combined, especially not on a pizza. Naruto shut his mouth with a loud click.

Robin leaned over and whispered behind his menu at the girl, "Uh, Starfire? Not everything on the menu is a pizza topping."

"Oh." She rubbed the back of her hand and blushed in embarrassment.

Suddenly, the titans heard a loud honk coming from up the street and saw a bus rolling downhill, looking as though its brakes had been cut. That was already bad enough, but there was also a baby carriage sitting at the bottom of the hill, and cries could be heard coming from inside it.

"Titans, go!" Robin ordered.

Naruto leapt off the balcony of the pizza place, igniting the flames from his boots, and flew towards the baby carriage, pushing it across the street and out of harm's way. Cyborg and Beast Boy landed in front of the bus and tried to stop it. Cyborg tried slowing it down with his massive strength, while Beast Boy shifted into a gorilla to match his friend. Despite their combined strength, the bus was still rolling forward, until Raven sent a burst of dark energy into the bus and shifted the gear from N to P.

Cyborg looked inside the bus as Beast Boy reverted back to human, and was shocked to find it empty. No driver and no passengers. "Um, don't buses usually have drivers?"

"And I thought these things were supposed to have babies inside. We all heard the crying, right?" Naruto asked them, as he instead held up a small green bear that had been inside the carriage, while Robin and Starfire came over to inspect it.

"Are you pit-sniffers normally this stupid?" A voice coming from the bear asked, as its eyes began glowing and fired two powerful beams out that sent Naruto, Robin, and Starfire flying back into a group of garbage cans.

Cyborg, Beast Boy, and Raven glanced up in shock as the bus behind them was suddenly lifted up and smashed down upon them with a loud crash. Walking around from the bus was Mammoth, clapping his hands together as if to rid them of dirt.

Coming to stand in front of him were Jinx and Gizmo, smirking in triumph

"Hah, that was too easy! What a bunch of cludgeheads." Gizmo insulted. "You guys wanna get pizza?"

"So quick to celebrate? You guys aren't nearly good enough to finish us off that easily!" Naruto yelled, pulling wrappers off that had become stuck to his body due the melted candy that had been in them. "A real enemy would know to follow through after attacking with the element of surprise."

The bus was them blasted off the road by a shot from Cyborg's sonic cannon, revealing the other three had been in a crater beneath the bus. "We're just getting started!" Cyborg yelled angrily.

"Who are these guys?" Beast Boy asked, sitting up from inside the crater, pushing pieces of cement out of his hair. "And what's a cludgehead?"

"We are The Hive! Gizmo!" Gizmo said with a smirk, pulling the controller off his waist and pressing a button to release a rocket from the center of his harness, and turrets from the sides.

"Mammoth! Your worst nightmare," Mammoth stated threateningly, punching a fist into his palm.

"Jinx. And this, is Attack Pattern Alpha," Jinx finished, as all three of them started moving off to attack the titans.

Gizmo flew forward and released rapid-fire energy blasts towards Robin, Starfire, and Naruto, bringing down bricks around the three titans in the garbage, before flying off again. Cyborg had locked hands with Mammoth, each trying to overpower the other, and it looked as if Cyborg was succeeding, for he managed to push Mammoth back with his strength, just as Robin, Starfire, and Naruto managed to dig themselves out. "What do you call an idiot with a rocket on his back?" Mammoth asked him.

"Duped." Gizmo answered, flying over to Cyborg and magnetically attaching a rocket to the teen's back that sent him flying off into the air uncontrollably.

"Cyborg!" Starfire gasped, quickly flying after him, trying to catch him in her arms, but failing as the rocket kept changing directions.

Naruto charged towards Raven who was fighting Jinx, and loaded a stick of dynamite into Flame Arrow, the cannon on his left arm. He sent several powerful red blasts, not at Jinx as he knew Raven could handle her, but at Gizmo, who was heading over to them on four massive metal legs protruding from his specialized harness. Gizmo managed to dodge most of them quite easily, until a pair of shots took out one of the legs, and sent him tumbling to the ground.

However, before he fell, Gizmo managed to fire off a powerful orange beam from a cannon on his chest that blasted Raven off her feet and into Naruto, sending them both flying back into a mailbox.

Beast Boy charged in at Gizmo and Jinx, morphing into a massive elephant, until he was picked up off the ground by Mammoth. "Mammoth's gonna make _you_ extinct!" He then tossed the elephant towards Robin who was running at Jinx, but had to stop as Beast Boy crashed into him, thankfully having turned back into a human first, and sent the two skidding across the road painfully.

"Is it me, or are we getting our butts kicked?" Beast Boy asked, sitting upside down on the road and looking at the three around him.

"It's just you." Naruto, Raven, and Robin said simultaneously as they got up. Naruto loaded his ammunition belt into the back of Flame Arrow, and decided to take out Mammoth first. Strength was obviously the only thing he had, so he might be the easiest to defeat.

"Listen up team, I've got a plan." Robin said, only for Beast Boy and Raven to be blasted off their feet by a turret mounted over Gizmo's right shoulder, arcing through the air and landing on the road with a loud and likely painful smack.

"How many things does that bald kid have?" Naruto asked, sparing the two a quick glance before turning back towards his enemies and firing his bullets, which suddenly accelerated in midair towards Mammoth. To Naruto's surprise, the massive man simply grinned and let them strike him. Each of the bullets exploded upon contact and obscured his form in thick smoke. When it cleared, Mammoth was standing there unharmed, and smirking at him mockingly.

"Naruto! It was the girl! She shot something at your bullets just before they hit him!" Robin yelled at the only titan left standing, hoping he wouldn't lose his composure from that failure.

"Ah ah, no spoilers now. That ruins the ending." Jinx said with a grin, as she quickly snapped her fingers, causing purple sparks to form around Naruto's boots. Suddenly they released intense flames without his control, sending Naruto flying around in circles until Mammoth punched him out of the air and into the side of a car, which crumpled in from the impact.

Gizmo then fired a shot from his turret into the ground at Robin's feet, as Jinx waved her hands apart, sending a cone of purple energy across the road, forming cracks in the pavement, and Mammoth leapt into the air and slammed his hands together onto the already damaged road, creating a powerful shockwave that finally broke it apart and sent Robin falling down into the depths with a scream.

Raven, Naruto, and Beast Boy managed to get themselves up and peered down into the massive hole in the road where Robin fell. Their eyes couldn't pierce the darkness below, and all they heard was rushing water. Naruto frowned, clutching his stomach with his left arm, feeling as though Mammoth had actually ruptured some of his internal organs from that punch. He pulled out a single stick of dynamite and tossed it at the feet of the Hive, the explosion obscuring their form in a cloud of smoke. Taking the chance, he pulled Raven and Beast Boy into the hole, bringing them down slowly now that he had control over his boots back.

They landed in dark sewer water, and though the Hive peered down into the hole, they could not see the titans due to the darkness. After almost five minutes, they disappeared from view, and the three of them sighed in relief. It was Naruto who eventually spotted Robin's yellow utility belt hanging off an extended pipe just above their heads. "It must have ripped off as he fell. From there, he could have been carried down by the rushing water and taken who knows where."

Raven and Beast Boy knew what Naruto was saying was probably true, yet all three of them decided to search around for their leader anyways. Beast Boy even took one for the team and transformed into a swordfish to search beneath the disgusting water's surface, but still saw no sign of Robin. "It'll do us no good to continue the search right now. I don't sense him anywhere in the immediate area anyways, and we're all injured. We need to retreat to the tower and recuperate."

Naruto and Beast Boy nodded at her plan. She surrounded the three of them in dark energy which took the shape of a large raven as she transported them back to the tower.

* * *

Raven's injuries had prevented her from actually getting them inside the tower, leaving the three of them on the island just outside. Raven had Naruto's arm around her shoulder, and was helping him up towards the tower, while Beast Boy, the least injured of the three, managed to head up himself, a slight limp in his right leg being the only discernible problem.

Raven pushed open the main doors to the tower and set Naruto down in one of the chairs lining the entry hall, as Beast Boy took the one beside it, rubbing his leg. "That didn't just happen. Tell me that didn't just happen."

"It did happen. We cannot change the truth, no matter how much we dislike it." Raven answered bluntly. She pressed her hands against Naruto's stomach gently, and started channeling her power into them, only this time it was white rather than black. Naruto started breathing much more easily and smiled in gratitude, which Raven returned briefly, before repeating the action for Beast Boy's leg.

"I never knew you could heal, Raven. Thanks." Naruto said, slowly getting up and testing his range of motion, trying to find out if there was any way he might trigger the pain. He smiled when he realized Raven had healed the injury completely.

"No problem." Raven said, just as the doors to the tower were once again opened, this time with Cyborg and Starfire walking in.

"Maybe y'all should call me flyboy! I was halfway to Gotham City before Star zapped that thing off my back." Cyborg said with a grin as he walked over to them. "So what'd I miss?"

The frustrated look on Naruto's face and the mirrored downcast looks on Raven's and Beast Boy's, confirmed his suspicions, though he didn't want to accept it. "Tell me how we kicked their butts. Come on, I gotta have the play-by-play."

"Where is Robin?" Starfire asked, not seeing the spiky-haired leader of the teen titans around them.

"Um Star? We're not sure," Beast Boy admitted sadly.

"Not sure? Why are you not—?" Starfire asked.

"We did our best Starfire, but we were injured and those three were probably still in the area." Naruto explained. "The rushing water could have sent him through the sewer lines to almost anywhere in the city."

Raven nodded in agreement and held up Robin's utility belt in her hands to show Starfire. "We managed to find this. But, Robin is gone."

Starfire gasped in shock and Cyborg groaned in anger, clutching his hands to his head in frustration. "I should've been there. I let that kid sneak up on me and… what was I… it was a trap and I… I shoulda known."

"I do not understand. If the water has taken Robin somewhere in the city, why did you not go and look for him? Why did you retreat and leave Robin all alone? Why did you abandon our friend?" Starfire asked them accusingly.

Beast Boy raised his hands in placating manner, since Naruto looked deeply insulted by Starfire's accusations. No, not just insulted, he looked furious. The look in his eyes scared him. A _lot_. He almost believed Naruto wanted to hurt Starfire now, but Naruto would never do that…right? "Calm down Star. Come on, this is _Robin_ we're talking about. I'm sure he's fine. He'll probably turn up any second."

As if to prove Beast Boy's statement, the door to the tower began unlocking with a loud whir and a faint beep.

"Awesome timing," Beast Boy said with relief evident in his voice, as Starfire flew over to the doors to welcome Robin back.

"Care to tell me why you got so angry just now?" Raven asked Naruto in a whisper.

"I never abandon my friends. Ever. Having that thrown in my face… brings up some bad memories." Naruto reluctantly answered, taking several deep breaths to calm himself down. He did not want to accidentally snap at Raven when she had done nothing wrong. He didn't even want to be angry at Starfire, though he personally thought he'd be justified in doing so.

The doors to Titans Tower were suddenly blasted apart, knocking Starfire back and sending the doors flying over their heads to smash into the back wall. Walking through the smoke were the three that had attacked them earlier.

"Oh no…" Beast Boy said in fear, his eyes never wavering from the three enemies that had actually forced their way into Titans Tower, the one place he'd thought they would be safe.

"Oh yes." Jinx said with a smirk, relishing in the fearful expression on the changelings face. She would have fun with that one today.

"You guys may have gotten lucky last time, but you're in _our_ house now!" Cyborg declared.

"Yeah, nice place. We'll take it!" Gizmo mocked, walking into the entry hall on his repaired mechanical legs.

Cyborg shifted his right arm into his sonic cannon and fired a shot towards Mammoth who leapt over it easily. The powerful teen from the Hive then punched his fists into the ground, and ripped up a large piece of concrete which he threw towards Raven and Starfire. Raven held up a hand, surrounding the thrown projectile with dark energy and stopping it in midair, before launching it back at Mammoth, who simply shattered it with a punch.

Jinx and Gizmo fired off energy waves and rockets towards Naruto, who flew back into the air, watching as the combined attacks exploded beneath him. He pulled off five sticks of dynamite with each hand and ignited their fuses with red flames before throwing the explosives towards Gizmo and Jinx. Each individual stick changed direction midflight three times, evading the attempts to destroy them, and sailed straight into Jinx and Gizmo, releasing two powerful explosions.

He narrowed his eyes behind his sunglasses, trying to spot them through the smoke, and cursed as wave of purple energy shot straight for him. Twisting his feet, he let his boots propel him forcefully to the left, avoiding the attack, but was unprepared for the orange beam that hit him in the chest and sent him soaring through the right wall into the hallway. Pushing himself up to his feet, he saw that Jinx's attack had hit Beast Boy instead, sending him into the same hallway at the other end. Gizmo had started attacking Cyborg, distracting him from facing Mammoth who he was probably best suited to fighting.

"Titans, separate!" Naruto ordered, running down the hallway and grabbing Beast Boy's arm as he headed to the upper levels, Jinx's attacks blowing apart the walls behind them.

* * *

Raven and Starfire flew up the stairs at the west side of the tower, closely followed by Mammoth. Raven paused, using her dark energy to send two fire extinguishers sailing towards their foe, who batted them away like annoying insects.

She frowned and followed up after Starfire, who was now flying backwards and launching starbolts at Mammoth. To their surprise, he was simply charging down the hallway at them yelling, with his arms raised to protect his face. Either the starbolts really _were_ doing nothing to him, or he was ignoring the pain to reach them.

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" Raven swept her arm through the air, ripping up the floor behind her and impaling it into the ceiling, temporarily blocking off the hallway behind him, though she could already hear Mammoth working his fists into it. Looking around at the rooms on this level, she spotted the doors to the gym and flew inside with Starfire. Once the doors were closed, Starfire began releasing her starbolts out as a constant stream of glowing green energy, welding them shut.

For a few moments, the loud banging coming from Mammoth had stopped, and they backed away from the doors worriedly. Raven was about to use her astral form to see what had happened to him until the wall behind them was smashed, with just the pure force alone being enough to send them to the ground. There, protruding out from the wall, was Mammoth's head which he had apparently rammed through.

"Peek-a-boo, I see you, ladies." Mammoth then forced the rest of his body through, completely breaking apart the wall, save for the two large pieces he held in his hands. He threw the large pieces at the two girls, each one hitting their stomachs, sending them slamming against the doors which held firm due to Starfire's welding.

Picking them both up, Mammoth tossed them through the wall and into the ocean outside the tower, where Cyborg and Beast Boy had already been ejected. That meant only the blonde kid was left to deal with.

* * *

_Ten minutes earlier_

Cyborg ran up the east stairs, the whir of Gizmo's mechanical legs not far behind. He had heard Naruto tell the others to split up as well, and had caught a glimpse of Raven and Starfire heading off together. That meant Naruto and Beast Boy were probably together somewhere in the tower as well. At least, he hoped they were. Naruto could probably handle himself alone, but Beast Boy's powers were at a disadvantage against someone like Jinx who could fight at range.

He hid in the shadows around the corner and peeked back the way he came. The large four-legged shadow appeared moments before Gizmo himself actually showed up. Rather than make his way down the hallway, Gizmo turned and entered Cyborg's room instead, leaving the doors open behind him.

Cyborg moved out and headed towards his room cautiously. He knew Gizmo was probably trying to set a trap inside, but this was his room. He knew it in and out. Only a few seconds after he entered, the doors shut and locked behind him, leaving the room in darkness until a wall of screens lit up with Gizmo's face.

"So, tin man, you got a heart under all that outdated crudware?"

Cyborg stayed silent and started moving further into his room, constantly turning so his back would not be facing the same direction for too long. The kid was undoubtedly good if he could hack this room's systems so easily, but there wasn't anything in here that could be used as a weapon.

"Not telling? Guess I'll have to take you apart and find out!" Gizmo declared as his mechanical legs brought him out of the shadows. Gizmo had been above him the whole time!

Suddenly, one of the legs swept across the ground and smashed into Cyborg's chest, knocking the titan to the ground. A second leg slammed down upon him, sending him falling through the ground to the bottom floor. Cyborg sat up with a groan and saw that he was in the hallway just outside the garage. Glancing up, he saw Gizmo positioning his mechanical legs around the hole in preparation to drop down after him.

Left with no choice, Cyborg punched the doors down, not having time to input the security code. As he was looking around to see what he had to work with in here, he heard the loud thud as Gizmo finally came down from his room and followed him into the garage. Cyborg kept moving back, trying to put as much space between them as possible, but Gizmo's walker was faster and easily kept pace.

This time when Gizmo tried to slam one of the legs into Cyborg's chest, the titan caught it in his arms and kept a tight grip on it. "Gotcha!" A second leg tried to strike him, but Cyborg caught it in his left hand, still holding onto the first with his right hand. He smiled victoriously and yanked the leg down, actually ripping it out of Gizmo's harness, and sent the boy to the ground. Before he could recover, Cyborg picked him up and ripped the device off of Gizmo's back with a mocking laugh, crushing it between his hands even as Gizmo managed to pry himself free from Cyborg's hand and ran off behind the storage containers.

"How you gonna fight me without your tech?" Cyborg asked, searching around the containers for him, believing he had already won this fight. He caught a quick glimpse of Gizmo running to the left behind a large crate and grinned as he lifted it up, spotting Gizmo looking up at him in surprise. That was until he felt his left foot stepping on something and realized it was a portable hologram projector.

The image of Gizmo smirked before fading out, just as the real Gizmo jumped down from a stack of crates onto Cyborg's back. He opened up the access panel on the titan's back and started going through the systems, easily shutting down the security protocols protecting them.

"Get outta my systems! Nobody hacks my systems!" Cyborg tried pulling and shaking him off, but was slowly losing control of his body. His legs started running around in circles without his control, and his arms were no longer moving freely either.

"Ooh, ejector arm! Cool!" Gizmo said, as he triggered the ejection of Cyborg's right arm, detaching it and sending it rolling across the ground. As he continued running through Cyborg's systems he activated the smaller sonic blasters built into his feet and jumped off. The blasters fired a powerful burst at the ground pointblank and sent the robotic teen rocketing through the garage doors and into the ocean. Gizmo chuckled as he stared out at the titan in the ocean. A minute later the green kid flew into the water followed by the girls.

Only the blonde one left to take care of, and they were done.

* * *

_Ten minutes earlier_

Naruto cursed under his breath as two more panels were ripped out of the wall by Jinx and sent hurtling towards Beast Boy. The green cheetah running down the hall to his left nimbly leapt over the first and briefly ran along the wall to avoid the second tossed at its feet. She had only been targeting Beast Boy so far, and was using everything in the tower against them. They hadn't even seen her again since the brief skirmish in the entry hall, as they were so far ahead of her.

"Here kitty kitty, what's the matter? Afraid of a little bad luck?" Jinx taunted from somewhere behind them.

Naruto clicked his tongue in annoyance and slid three sticks of dynamite out of the tubes on his chest and flung them down the hallway behind them. The dynamite exploded, partially bringing down the ceiling to block the path, though he doubted it would keep her delayed for long. "Beast Boy, we need to get her up to the roof. There's almost nothing for her powers to affect, and we can't fight in cramped spaces as well as she can."

Beast Boy nodded just as the wreckage slid apart seamlessly, allowing Jinx to walk through. "Nice try, but I guess it was just bad luck the pieces fell together so poorly."

Naruto slid a stick of dynamite into the back of Flame Arrow and fired out a powerful red beam that Jinx simply back flipped over. She sliced her hand through the air, directing several purple blasts at their feet. The ground began cracking, and the two of them would have fallen through when the ground collapsed had they not been able to simply fly over it.

"Getting sloppy Jinx. You seem to have gotten _worse_ since this afternoon." Naruto taunted, as he flashed her a cheeky grin and took off around the corner, followed by a green eagle. Purple waves sent into the ceiling caused a large metal plate to flip down and smash straight into Beast Boy, knocking him to the ground and forcing him to revert back to human. Naruto stopped and hovered in place, igniting his purple ring and inserting it into the box on his hip, bringing out a small black canister. He slid it into Flame Arrow just as Jinx calmly walked around the corner.

"This just isn't your day," she said with false pity.

Beast Boy suddenly shifted into a massive tyrannosaurus, but was too large for the hallway and forced to crouch down. And even then, his head was pressed up against the ceiling so tightly that he could not move from his position. Since he couldn't get a clear shot around Beast Boy, Naruto lowered his left arm and instead pulled out three sticks of dynamite between the fingers of his right hand and lit them up, before tossing them through the small opening over Beast Boy's now miniscule left arm.

Jinx agilely back flipped, as her eyes illuminated with the same purple energy her attacks released. The ground beneath beast Boy's feet cracked as a ring of energy rose up around him. The ground broke away just as Beast boy shifted into a small sparrow to stay up, until a second wave of energy from Jinx sliced into the thrown dynamite causing them to detonate earlier than planned. The explosion rocked into Beast Boy's left side, forcing him back into human form, and sent him soaring through the side wall into the ocean, where Cyborg was already keeping afloat. Not a moment later Raven and Starfire were tossed in from the upper floors after him.

"It's just you and me now, Jinx. Let's see you dodge this!" Naruto raised his left arm and shot out a thin red beam with a purple outline towards the girl. Jinx scoffed at such a straightforward attack and was already leaping to the side to avoid it, but her eyes widened as it suddenly started expanding and branching out until it filled the entire hallway, leaving her no room to maneuver. She was blasted off of her feet and smashed into the wall, forming several cracks behind her body from the impact.

She fell to the ground on her side, and did not move again. Satisfied, Naruto turned to go search for the other two, when suddenly Mammoth came down through the ceiling and wrapped his arms around Naruto, pinning his own to his sides. No matter how much he struggled, Naruto could not free his arms at all. To make matters worse, Gizmo rose up through the hole in the ground Jinx had made, with a long silver cannon cradled in his hands.

He fired a bright blue ball towards the struggling blonde just as Mammoth released him. As the ball connected, it rapidly expanded until everything below Naruto's neck was trapped in a big blue bubble. "Damn… come on… move!" Naruto tried moving his arms through the bubble, but they felt so heavy. He could tell his arms were moving, but whatever this bubble was made of was slowing them down like the slickest sludge. Not only that, but he couldn't ignite his flames or fire Flame Arrow inside of it.

Gizmo, Mammoth, and Jinx stepped up around him grinning in success. "Give it up snot-for-brains. You're not freeing yourself from that. Oh, and just so you know: it doesn't float in water."

Jinx limped forward until she stood face to face with Naruto, curling a finger under his chin. "If you behave, I'll let Gizmo hang you in my new room."

"Bite me, you crazy witch!" Naruto insulted, still trying to move his arms up to his dynamite even though he knew it was a futile gesture on his part.

Jinx looked irritated that he had rejected her 'generous' offer and snapped her fingers. Taking the cue, Mammoth picked up the trapped titan and threw him out the same wall that Beast Boy had been blasted out. Unlike the others, he could not keep himself afloat and began to sink to the bottom of the ocean. Naruto held his breath as long as he could, but as he kept sinking lower and lower, he knew his time was running out.

Through his blurry eyes, he saw the water above shift into a massive wave that enveloped the others, but nothing other than that as he could not hold his breath any longer, and passed out. In his unconscious state, he did not see two sharks rapidly swimming towards him, their jaws open, and their rows of viciously sharp teeth prominently on display. Rather than rip him apart, the sharks began tearing the bubble around him to pieces, slowly but surely freeing him. A black-covered hand gripped Naruto's now free right hand, and brought him up to shore, pulling him out of the water and laying him flat on the sand.

Two hands pressed down on Naruto's chest, forcing him to spit up the water in his lungs with a wet cough. As Naruto wearily opened his eyes, he saw a flash of blue just as someone beside him dived into the water. He sat up and coughed out more water, just as the other titans walked their way onto the sand beside him.

"Naruto!" He couldn't tell which of them called out his name, but all four ran over to see if he was alright. "We thought you were a goner. I was gonna dive down and get you, but that tidal wave Jinx made forced us all away." Beast boy explained, very much relieved. "How did you get free? And make it to shore before us?"

"S-Someone pulled me out. I didn't see who it was, but they dived back into the water afterwards." Naruto groaned as he looked down upon himself. All of his dynamite was now wet and useless, so he reluctantly resealed his armor into his buckle. He stood up as the other four of them made their way up the small hill overlooking the shoreline. They glanced back at the tower they had just lost, and the enemies who were now residing within.

"So uh… who else never wants to go surfing again?" Beast Boy asked, trying to lighten the mood.

"Not now man," Cyborg said angrily.

"Hey, I was just trying to—" Raven cut him off with a hand and shook her head. Now was not the time for jokes.

Cyborg activated the blowtorch in his left pointer finger just as the plates on his left leg slid open, revealing the electronics within were sparking. He started trying to repair the damage Gizmo had done, but that tidal wave on his already weakened systems might have been the straw that broke the camel's back.

"Perhaps I might be of assistance?" Starfire asked helpfully.

"I got it." Cyborg muttered in annoyance.

"But, you are so damaged…"

"I got it!" Cyborg finally yelled at Starfire.

"Hey! She only wanted to help!" Beast Boy said. "What _is_ your problem?!"

"What do you think?!" Cyborg retorted. "We got kicked out of our house, a pintsized poindexter took me for a joyride, and in case you haven't noticed, I just became left-handed!" Cyborg shouted, pointing at his missing right hand.

"Enough!" Raven snapped. "We need to control our emotions."

"Or what? Our bad vibes will keep you from meditating?" Cyborg bellowed at her.

"I wish Robin were here…" Starfire said glumly.

"Well he's not! Don't you guys get it? They won, we lost! It's over!" Cyborg declared. After his rant, he seemed to be calming down, as the four of them looked on at their tower forlornly. The truth of Cyborg's words hit them like a freight train. The titans had been beaten.

"I can't believe you guys are going to just give up like that! We are the Teen Titans. It wasn't impossible that we'd get beaten at least once! Every good fighter meets their match eventually. But they don't just give up! They get stronger, fight harder, and _**win**_!" Naruto berated the team, disappointed in their attitude and mindset.

"Dude, the Teen Titans are finished…" Cyborg said with great difficulty.

"Not yet."

The other five turned around and saw Robin smirking at them with his arms crossed. If not for the missing utility belt, it hardly even looked as if he'd been injured or in a fight. "Not if I have anything to say about it. Naruto's right you guys, we're not giving up. We've seen how they fight. Now we just need to plan how to fight against them."

Naruto nodded, punching his right fist into his left palm determinedly. "Got that right. I owe them some payback, and I'm going to start with Mammoth."

Raven, Starfire, Beast Boy and Cyborg looked at each other, before turning to Naruto and Robin and nodding simultaneously. The return of their leader and the unwavering confidence Naruto possessed had lit a fire within them, a drive to win.

"Good. Now if we're going to do this, we have to do it together. Teamwork is how they beat us, and it's how we're going to beat them. Naruto… that means you have to tell us what your powers can really do." Robin finished with a look towards his second-in-command. "I'm pretty sure I've guessed your reasoning. You believe that as long as you can get the job done, the details aren't important, right?"

Naruto stayed silent, but refused to meet Robin's eyes.

Taking that as confirmation, Robin pressed home his argument. "Naruto, if we're not sure what your abilities entail, we can't plan accordingly. We won't know if there's a certain enemy you're suited to fighting, or if there's a job only you can do. We're a team now Naruto, so you have to trust us… with your life, if necessary." Robin finished seriously, as Naruto's eyes shot back up and stared into his own.

The other five could actually feel the tension in the air between the two. Neither one seemed to be backing down, or even blinking. Finally, Naruto sighed, closing his eyes and nodded in resignation. He knew Robin was right. None of the other titans were like _**him**_. He could actually trust these five. "Alright if you want to know then be prepared to listen, because it's a lengthy explanation."

They all nodded and moved to the other side of the hill before sitting down, so they were no longer in direct view from the tower. Naruto sat down between Robin and Raven, and held up his right hand, igniting each ring with its respective flame. "As you know, my abilities rely and focus around these five flames. More specifically, they're known as the Dying Will Flames of the Sky because each of them represents a certain aspect of the sky. However, they don't react and behave like normal fire. Water doesn't douse them, and they can not be put out by anything than other Dying Will Flames of the Sky. They can be stopped from igniting on my rings however, as I've just been forced to experience."

"Why 'dying will' though? That sounds so… dark." Cyborg said with a shiver.

Raven turned towards him and raised an eyebrow. "What's wrong with dark?"

"Nothing!" Cyborg reassured her with sweat running down his face. Raven kept staring at him for several more seconds before letting the matter drop. For now.

"They're called dying will flames, because they're powered by my resolve. The kind of resolve to do something that you get when you know you're about to die. The one thing you _have_ to do before you perish." Naruto explained, continuing on before they could comment as he saw Starfire was about to do. "No guys, I'm not suicidal. I just give my all in every fight. Now then, there are seven aspects in total, though I only have access to five. They are the Sky which is orange, Storm is red, Rain is blue, Sun is yellow, Thunder is green, Cloud is purple, and Mist is indigo."

"So you don't have Mist or Sky," Raven said, examining the rings on his right hand. The 'flame' of Thunder looked like actual electricity, while the 'flame' of rain looked like a flickering wisp of water, a contradiction if she ever saw one.

Naruto nodded in confirmation. "Each flame has an attribute that defines its ability. For example, the attribute of Storm is disintegration. Storm flames are the most offensive in terms of battle, and can make anything that touches them decay and break apart."

Five sets of eyes widened at that statement. "Dude… so like if you shoot someone's arm, will it like start melting at stuff?"

"It's not that slow, Beast Boy. If I actually put in enough power to do that, the effect would be instantaneous and the arm would have been completely burned off. Moving on, the special trait of Rain flames is tranquility, and carries the meaning of stillness and pacification. Thus, these flames can be used to weaken a target by robbing it of its strength and capacity of movement, either slowing down or stopping them completely. Rain flames are also used to weaken attacks, defenses, and barriers."

Robin looked pensive following that description, but nonetheless motioned for Naruto to proceed.

"The trait of Sun flames is activation, which has the power to induce and improve the efficiency of any type of activity. As such, it is an optimal flame for the purposes of fulfilling support roles, such as healing and strengthening individuals. Sometimes, these flames can stimulate muscles and joints, increasing the user's body functions drastically; however, that same characteristic also makes it difficult to use Sun flames in direct combat.

Thunder flames have the trait of hardening, which can be employed to harden and increase the durability of objects. By themselves, the flames can be used defensively by projecting a solid barrier, and offensively by cutting like a sharp blade or electrocuting like actual electricity. Obviously they're better suited for shields and penetrating attacks."

"Aw yeah, I'm already planning on having you help me fix the security on the tower now! Lightning doors activating the second and intruder gets in! It'll be sweet!" Cyborg said eagerly, imagining solid walls of green electricity closing in on Gizmo, causing him to laugh almost…evilly.

Beast boy and Starfire edged away from him nervously.

"The last one is Cloud, which has the ability of propagation. Basically it's the ability to grow, expand, and replicate. As such, it is suited for anything that involves increase of size, multiplication of numbers, or when performing techniques involving a large area, like my storm cloud shot. I actually nailed Jinx with that one before they beat me."

"Dude! Nice one!" Beast Boy slapped him a high five before allowing him to continue. The both of them received an eye roll from Raven.

"There, you know everything now. Are you satisfied, Robin?" Naruto asked, finally letting the flames in his ring die out.

"More than satisfied." Robin answered with a grin. "And I'm perfectly fine with letting you take on Mammoth now. You have a combination shot for every attribute and storm, right?"

Naruto, not seeing where he was going with this, nodded in confirmation.

"Good. Mammoth's increased strength gives him higher durability than normal humans, Naruto. I'm almost positive he could take everything we throw at him and get back up to fight." Robin explained, growing more excited with each word he spoke. "But… a combination shot of rain and storm would weaken him just enough for the storm flames to pack more punch against him!"

"I see, you think this durability of his can be weakened like any other defense." Naruto said in realization. "It's worth a try. I was planning on hitting him with a solidified beam of flame thunder, but this might work better. Raven's going to have to distract him so I can at least get one shot in. After that, I'll be able to finish the job."

"I can buy you a little time, but my powers aren't meant for close-range, Naruto." Raven warned him. "Make sure you don't miss your chance."

Robin nodded, satisfied that they now had a way of dealing with one of the Hive members. "Cyborg, Gizmo is going to try and hack you again. We need to hack him first. Can you make something to do that?"

"No problem." Cyborg told him confidently. "I can take apart my communicator and use the parts to make an electric disk for you. If you can throw it onto the kid's harness, it'll shut down his whole system. After that, he's got nothing. I just need to avoid letting him get onto my back again."

"Perfect. Beast Boy, Starfire, I need you two to take down Jinx. Lure her somewhere out in the open where her powers will have less to interact with and take her down. I'm betting that if you can take the fight up close, it should be an easy match." Robin declared.

"We shall "kick the butt" of this Jinx girl together, Robin. She will be blind when we attempt to strike her!" Starfire said enthusiastically.

"Um, Star? I think you mean she won't see it coming." Beast Boy corrected her awkwardly.

"Now we just need a way in. Can the tower's security be hacked from the outside Cyborg?" Robin asked.

Cyborg shook his head. "No, but I can still get us in. Gizmo made a mistake leaving my arm in the tower, and I'm gonna make sure he regrets it."

Robin's smirk matched Cyborg's. "Everything's good to go then. We'll wait until nightfall to attack, give them a chance to drop their guard. Then… we take back Titans Tower!"

* * *

"Higher… a little to the left… little more… perfect." Gizmo said, giving his drones a thumbs up as they mounted the wooden plaque holding Cyborg's ejected right arm. "Slade's gonna have kittens when he hears we whipped the titans _and_ took their stinking tower."

"Not to mention Robin's favorite fashion statement," Jinx said, walking into the living room sporting Robin's utility belt hanging loosely around her waist. She held up one of Raven's blue cloaks and grimaced. "Ugh, but that's the only thing fashionable around here."

"Tell me about it. All their food is way out of date." Mammoth said, looking into the fridge and pulling out a burger covered in blue fuzzy mold, which he then ate anyways, to the disgust of his teammates.

With all three Hive members busy doing their own thing, none of them noticed the tip of Cyborg's middle finger pop out and scan the room with a red camera lens. Jinx was trying on Raven's cloak, Mammoth was still devouring the moldy food, and Gizmo was browsing through the music selection, tossing the discs away as he insulted them. The camera then panned over to one of the control panels mounted on the wall behind Gizmo's back.

The arm detached itself from the plaque and dropped to the ground, walking along the red carpet on its fingers, while occasionally bringing the camera up to monitor the three enemies in the room. The arm walked itself over to the control panel and jumped down into the chair set in front of it, as three metallic cables extended out the top and began punching commands into the keyboard. The entire security system was deactivated, leaving the tower defenseless and causing a red alarm to blare through the room.

All three Hive members stopped what they were doing to see what had triggered the alarm. The CDs Gizmo was looking through began shooting out at him rapidly, forcing him to back away for fear of being pelted. "What the hairball…?" The chair to his left spun around, revealing the unattached arm standing upright looking at him through a camera in the middle finger.

Gizmo screamed in shock as the arm wrapped him up in mechanical cables and began moving along the floor, dragging the boy behind it. Two rockets emerged from the middle of the arm and propelled it and Gizmo into the air and up through the ventilation ducts, Gizmo's scream of fear echoing the whole way up.

Back in the living room, Jinx was grabbed by a large spectral black hand and pulled up through the ceiling, while Mammoth was forced into the elevator by a large green projectile slamming into his chest.

Up on the roof, Jinx was released by a large black raven flying up into the air just as Gizmo came flying up through a vent and was released by the cables, sending him crashing into Jinx. The elevator behind them opened, as Mammoth was blasted out of the elevator by another green projectile, landing in front of his two dazed teammates.

"Sorry to interrupt the victory celebration, but like we said," Robin trailed off, grabbing the utility belt Raven had snagged from Jinx and fastened it around his waist, the familiar weight making him feel complete again.

"We're just getting started." Cyborg finished, reconnecting his right arm back in place.

"Attack Pattern Alpha!" Jinx ordered as each of them split up to take on the titans.

Jinx leapt into the air and released a wave of energy at the two massive towers, causing them to topple over towards Cyborg who managed to roll to his left, just barely avoiding being flattened. As per their plan, before jinx could continue her attack, Starfire flew down from above, sending a barrage of starbolts at Jinx's feet, which the girl avoided by back flipping into the myriad of metal beams that were still under construction.

With her out of the way, Cyborg began looking for Gizmo, who wasn't in the area that he could see. As he approached the fallen towers, he felt the boy jump onto his back just as he had earlier. "Hey robo-wimp. Feel like getting hacked?" Gizmo taunted as he held up a small device that was sparking electricity between two sharp prongs.

"Nope. How 'bout you? Robin! Now!" The spiky-haired leader of the titans leapt into the air above them and sent a small electrical disk flying at Gizmo's harness. The disk attached itself with the four metal clamps surrounding it, and released a powerful surge of electricity into the harness.

Gizmo screamed and fell off of Cyborg's back, trying to pull the device off of his harness, but couldn't reach. "Ahhh! Cut it out, you're gonna crash my whole system! Get it off me! Get it off me!" The rocket built into his harness activated and sent him flying around uncontrollably, just as he'd done to Cyborg.

* * *

Jinx continued running through the partially constructed zone, and grinned as she saw the girl having difficulty flying after her. The green starbolts had suddenly stopped as well. She looked up when she heard a loud screech from above her, just as a small green monkey leapt off of a girder and grabbed onto her face, screeching nonstop. She tried shaking him off and started firing her hex waves around the area to ward off the girl in case she had any smart ideas about attacking now. She grabbed onto the fur on the monkey's back and forcefully pulled him off, tossing him away from her.

The monkey changed back to Beast Boy who landed outside the construction in a crouch. "Your luck just ran out." He ginned and transformed into a green falcon, flying off to the other side of the roof.

Jinx looked confused until she heard the groaning of metal all around her. Every metal beam and girder had hex waves sparking off of them, as they started breaking apart and falling to the ground around her, effectively keeping her trapped.

* * *

Mammoth charged in and swung his fist at Raven, who hovered up and over it. He turned around and started running towards Raven, but was suddenly shoulder-tackled by Cyborg into the pile of debris Jinx was slowly climbing out of.

Naruto grinned as he stepped up, aiming Flame Arrow straight at the two of them. "Let me show you how the Guardian of the Storm fights!" He inserted the sun ammunition belt into Flame Arrow's rear mouth and unloaded a stream of bullets upon the two of them which exploded and surrounded them in smoke. "To be the core…" Without wasting a second, he swapped out the ammunition belt for a large black tube, and fired six red beams coated with bright blue rain flames into the smoke, producing an even larger explosion. "…that attacks relentlessly…" He ejected the cartridge and inserted an oval-shaped tube with four thin appendages that flipped over to surround Flame Arrow. "…the furious Storm that never rests!" To finish his chain, Naruto fired off a powerful red beam sparking with red electricity circling around it into the smoke, actually blowing apart the metal beams behind his two targets in the resulting explosion.

He looked up and saw Gizmo's screaming form fall into the cloud of smoke, the rocket on his back finally having run out of fuel. "Wouldn't want to leave you out Gizmo." Naruto pulled off two sticks of dynamite with each hand, lighting the fuses with bright red storm flames, and launched them into the air, where they swiftly changed directions and sailed into the currently obscured forms of the Hive three.

After that last explosion from his dynamite, Naruto allowed the smoke cloud to finally dissipate, revealing the heavily injured and burned forms of the Hive members, two of which were now unconscious, leaving only Gizmo to groan in pain as Mammoth's body had fallen over on top of him. "Forget this, I'm calling Slade!" He muttered, pulling out a simple communicator with a plain orange button in the center.

Robin grabbed Gizmo by the front of his jumpsuit and held him up in the air, glaring at him from behind his mask. "Who is Slade?" he demanded.

"Wouldn't you like to know, barfbrain?" Gizmo taunted weakly, glad he could still do something to piss of the titans after that blonde kid had so utterly decimated his teammates. No one said anything about that kind of power and skill when they took this job.

Robin frowned and threw Gizmo to the ground hard enough for his injuries to finally overwhelm the small genius and knock him out cold.

* * *

"I assure you, such failures are **not** tolerated within the Hive. Once the agents have been retrieved from the authorities, They _will_ be disciplined. Strictly." The woman reassured, pounding her fist into a palm to emphasize her point.

"Actually, your agents served my plans quite well. I never expected them to succeed. They were merely messengers and scouts. The message has been received, and the information I wanted has been… delivered." The man known as Slade explained, holding up his right hand and pressing two buttons in succession.

The wall of screens behind the woman lit up with two different looped videos, divided between the left and right half of the wall. On the left, was a blonde child, reciting some oath or mantra corresponding with a being known as the 'Guardian of the Storm', as he utterly humiliated the students she had sent out.

The power the boy wielded was incredible, and he switched between attacks so quickly. His combination of versatility and pure power impressed her, and even she could admit wishing she'd found him first.

On the right was a black-haired boy in a domino mask holding Gizmo up in the air and repeating the same question over and over.

"_Who is Slade?"_

* * *

As soon as the Hive three had been hauled away to the city's prison, the titans has begun work disassembling the giant H back into the original Titans Tower, a task they completed nearly five hours later, finishing up just before dawn.

It didn't take them long to discover what those three had done during their brief stay in Titans Tower, as Beast Boy complained about his music being organized alphabetically, Raven came out holding two blue cloaks that now smelled of a disgusting perfume meaning someone had entered her room which no one was supposed to do, and Starfire marveled at the loss of all their blue furry food.

"You gotta be kidding me," Cyborg complained, lifting up the couch and searching underneath. "The whole place gets cleaned and I _still_ can't find the—"

Robin's sharp whistle cut him off, as the boy wonder pointed down at the coffee table, where the remote was sitting in plain view. Robin plopped down onto the couch and began flipping through channels, while Cyborg and beast Boy sat down on either side of him, sighing from all the stress and exhaustion from the day's events.

Naruto was about to join them, until Raven caught his arm and dragged him up the stairs and into her room, sealing and locking it behind her. "Now, tell me what you meant when you said you've already died once."

Naruto's eyes widened, both surprised that she had willingly allowed him into her room, and honestly hoping she'd forgotten about that, but from the look in her quickly narrowing eyes, he should've known better. Seeing no way out of it without damaging his friendship with Raven, he sat down against the wall and began to recount the events of his old life. The day he was born, the identity and sacrifice of his parents, his friends and cherished ones, his experiences and battles, all of it. Even his death and entrance into this world.

Raven, who had sat down beside him partway through the story, remained silent for a few moments, digesting everything he'd just told her. Everything he'd just **trusted** her with. She felt a bit honored and flattered by it, actually. "Naruto… you know I can open portals to other dimensions… other worlds. If you want… I could try and send you home."

Naruto blinked in surprise, before smiling warmly and shaking his head. "Even if I could go back, I don't think I want to anymore. I'm getting the feeling that this _is_ home now. The whole point of sending me here was so I could have a fresh start. So, I wanna see how this life plays out. Now come on, I could use some breakfast after all that trouble, and I'm in the mood for waffles.

Raven allowed herself a slight smile and took Naruto's hand when he offered to help her up, the two of them heading back to the kitchen where Naruto shouted at Cyborg to make them some of his grandmother's famous waffles, a job the robotic titan was more than happy to comply with.

Watching Naruto and Cyborg making delicious-smelling waffles in the kitchen, she'd never been more relieved to have someone reject one of her rare acts of kindness.

* * *

And done. I realize I'm not the best at explaining or giving the readers a good image they can visualize, so if anyone wants further clarification on something, PM me and I'll send you all the info you could need.

As always, read and review and point out spelling or grammars errors on my part so I can fix them.

However if you're just going to complain about me following canon, then don't bother. Although there will be deviations, and a few of the stories in the Teen Titans GO comic added in, for the most part the story will follow the basic plot in canon.

That doesn't mean the outcomes will happen the same way, but I'm not going to go drastically shifting my story to suit a few people. Don't like it? Tough. I write my stories for the people who enjoy them the way I write them.


	3. Sisters

Disclaimer: I don't own anything concerning Naruto, Teen Titans, or Katekyo Hitman Reborn in anyway.

Thanks for all the reviews guys. A few people tried to sneak an anonymous flame through, but have failed. I wonder if people like that have nothing better to do than try to insult other authors with their disgraceful butchering of the English language.

* * *

The titans had decided to take a night out to enjoy themselves at the fair, located down by the waterfront. Raven had only reluctantly agreed due to the persistent urging from the other titans. Robin and Starfire had instantly split up with the group to enjoy several of the rides, while Beast boy, Cyborg, Naruto, and Raven had gone to try out some of the game booths.

Starfire had dragged Robin through the fair to the massive drop zone ride, the tilt-a-whirl, and finally ended up on the Ferris wheel beside him, watching the fireworks from the very top, where their particular box had stopped.

"Beautiful," Starfire gasped in wonder, staring up at the bright explosions taking place in the night sky. "Tell me again what they are called." Starfire said, turning to Robin.

"Fireworks," Robin replied.

"On my planet, such explosions would mean the Gordanians were attacking. You are _certain_ earth is not under attack?" Starfire asked doubtfully.

"Positive." Robin reassured her with a warm smile. "Cotton candy?" He asked, offering up the cone holding the bright pink ball of edible fluff he'd bought before they got on.

Starfire looked at the snack warily. "The last time I ate a ball of cotton it was white, and it did not taste very—"

"This is different," Robin interrupted her. To prove his statement, he pulled off a small ball of cotton candy and tossed it into his mouth.

Trusting Robin, she took a bit of the cotton candy and popped it into her mouth. She hummed at the taste which was sweet and delicious, shortly after which she squeaked in surprise. "It vanished!"

"Yeah, it'll do that," Robin stated with a laugh.

"When I came to this planet, I did not think I would ever fit in," Starfire admitted shyly, but seeing no judgment on Robin's face, decided to continue. "Earth is full of strange things. But now I see that—" She trailed off as a large amount of fireworks were fired up into the air. Shot after shot soared straight up before exploding in a large bloom of bright multicolored light. At the end of the display, enough fireworks were sent up to explode simultaneously, blanketing the sky straight across the waterfront.

Robin cheered and leaned back in his seat, coming down from the excitement he'd just felt. "Ah, amazing…"

Starfire stared at Robin intently, her green eyes seeming brighter than normal, almost as if they'd absorbed some of the light from the fireworks. "Earth is full of amazing things too…"

"Best planet I've ever been to…" Robin joked. Without warning, Starfire was grabbed out of the Ferris wheel box by what looked like a flying pink squid. It was moving fast and headed out over the water.

"Starfire!" Robin pulled out a grappling hook and shot it into the main frame of the Ferris wheel, using it to swing himself down to the ground. He had to find the other titans and get Starfire back immediately.

* * *

Naruto narrowed his eyes behind his sunglasses. Two small targeting reticules hovered over each other trying to lock on to his target, even as numbers started scrolling across the lenses. _'Distance to target, 3 meters. Wind, zero. Correction for gravity, 0.012. Got it!' _Naruto pulled the trigger just as the reticules finally locked on, causing a loud ring to sound out, indicating he'd successfully nailed the shot. "Ha! Beat that Cyborg!"

"Oh, it's on now!" Cyborg raised the pellet rifle attached to the booth, and sighted down on the small target attached to a tree. His enhanced left eye quickly calculated several different factors such as distance, wind direction, gravity, and magnetic fields, in just under five seconds as he fired, perfectly landing his shot.

"Boo yah!"

Currently, Naruto and Cyborg were at the shooting range game, which had been designed to resemble a miniature woodland area. There was a wood cabin, surrounded by trees and fake animals, and several ordinary objects scattered across the ground and around the cabin as well. Every possible item in the game had a large red and white bull's-eye attached to it, which the participants were meant to shoot with the pellet guns. The cost to play was a measly five dollars, and the participants were allowed to keep going until they finally missed a shot.

Cyborg and Naruto were both tied with 86 shots each, and had no intention of stopping until the other had lost, which didn't seem likely anytime soon, as each of them had a way to be extraordinarily accurate with their shots. Originally, Beast Boy and Cyborg had promised Raven they would win her a prize at one of the booths, a promise Naruto had made first. From there, it led to a challenge at the shooting range to see who would win Raven's prize first. Beast Boy missed his first shot and was dropped instantly, heading over to the ring toss game which he had a slightly better chance at winning.

"Sorry Cyborg, but there's a reason I'm the best ranged fighter in the Teen Titans!" Naruto fired five shots in quick succession, nailing five different targets across the range in a W pattern. Cyborg, not one about to be shown up, tried to mirror Naruto's feat, but failed on the attempted second shot.

While Naruto's sunglasses provided less in-depth information than Cyborg's eye, they were able to display predicted trajectory paths and the exact movement Naruto would need to move the pellet gun to be in perfect position for all five shots. Cyborg's eye gave him every bit of information needed to hit a single target, but it was not able to calculate the variables and factors for multiple targets in quick succession.

Naruto jumped around and cheered in victory as the final score came to 91 to 87. The cheerful blonde accepted the stuffed black bird from the game's operator, and handed it to Raven proudly.

Raven looked over the black bird in her hands, noting it looked like a cross between a crow and a raven. Naruto had won her this because he knew she'd appreciate it. She held the small bird against her chest and smiled slightly at Naruto. "Thanks, Na… Storm." She finished, remembering they were in public at the last minute.

Seeing the interaction between the two of them, Cyborg didn't feel as disappointed about losing the game to Naruto. For every little bit that Raven closed up and became a bit more of an introvert because someone, usually Beast Boy, did something stupid, she opened back up a little more because of Naruto just being Naruto. The only time any of the other titans had ever seen her smile, was after Naruto had done or said something that brought it out. He _knew_ her better than any of the others, and nothing she ever said or did creeped him out in the slightest, unlike the other titans to varying degrees.

"Here Raven! I won you a prize!" Beast Boy declared, shoving an oversized chicken into her arms."

"A giant chicken. I must be the luckiest girl in the world…" Raven muttered sarcastically. She was about to just force it back into his hands when Robin landed crouched before them. She sensed a strong feeling of worry, anger, and determination radiating off of him.

"Titans! Trouble!"

"Where's Starfire?" Cyborg asked Robin, not seeing the red-haired girl anywhere in the area or flying above them.

"That's the trouble," Robin said before running off towards the pier.

Naruto loaded a stick of dynamite into Flame Arrow and took off after Robin immediately, his Storm flames blazing out from his boots as he flew high above the fair. Beast Boy and Cyborg ran off after the other two, but Raven took a moment to set the black bird Naruto had won her on the counter of the shooting range's booth. She then tossed aside the giant chicken without a second thought. "I'll be back for this. Do _not_ lose it." She ordered.

The operator nodded fearfully, believing he'd seen the girl's eyes flash red momentarily. "W-Whatever you say! I'll take real good care of it until you get back!"

Satisfied, Raven flew off after the other titans and found them at the very end of the pier, scanning the skies for something. That was when she saw Starfire dive down from the sky and head straight towards them, flying so close to the water that it parted as she passed over it. Trailing close behind her was some sort of metallic pink squid that appeared to be flying under its own power, since it seemed that none of the metallic appendages needed to move for the machine to fly.

Naruto raised Flame Arrow in preparation to shoot down the drone chasing Starfire, but couldn't get a clear shot, as Starfire would not move out of the way. The targeting reticules in his sunglasses each landed on one of the rapidly flying targets, showing that Starfire was only 70 meters away and closing, while the drone was 80 meters and closing.

"Naruto, take the shot!" Robin yelled urgently.

Naruto frowned and ignored him, focusing entirely on Starfire's flying. She was dodging and weaving to avoid the stabbing tentacles, but she always returned to her original position in front of the damn thing. All he needed was for her to move away just far enough, so that his shot would connect with the enemy faster than she could return to her original spot. He heard Robin telling him to make the shot again, and had to resist the urge to berate him.

There! Starfire flew up 8 meters to avoid a tentacle that tried to wrap around her leg, leaving the drone wide open. Without hesitation, Naruto fired a powerful Storm shot across the water, passing less than a foot beneath Starfire as she was moving back down, and pierced a hole straight through the black cone on the front of the metallic squid. When Starfire noticed her pursuer was slowing down and losing altitude, she quickly put on a burst of speed and flew over to the titans, hovering in the air behind them.

Unbelievably, the thing was still struggling to fly after her, jerking uncontrollably in the air. Several times it even plummeted straight down to the water, bouncing off the surface until it was able to bring itself higher. Naruto grinned and pulled his right arm back, as he brought his left arm out across his chest. "I've wanted to try this for a while now, and this thing just volunteered to be my test dummy." The drone flew closer and closer, no semblance of control remaining in its flight pattern, until it finally approached the pier where Naruto was waiting.

Robin blinked and missed it.

One moment, Naruto had his arm cocked back ready to punch the thing, and the next, the robot squid was sailing straight upwards into the air, a large dent visible on the main body where it almost seemed to bend in on itself, and exploded in a powerful burst of light. It wasn't until he looked at Naruto's right arm again that he understood what had happened. Naruto's arm was held in an uppercut position, and a faint yellow light was dying down from inside the vent on the back of his gauntlet.

Naruto must have released a strong surge of Sun flames from the vent to accelerate his arm to an incredible speed. With the added force and momentum behind his punch, he was able to smash the spike on his gauntlet into the drone, sending it several hundred feet into the air. It looked like Naruto had just developed his own 1-hit finisher. "Naruto, that was awesome!"

Naruto lowered his right arm and smirked. "An attack like that needs a name, huh? Got any suggestions guys?"

"Sun smasher!" Robin suggested.

"Dude, that sounds totally lame. It should be something like super ultra fantastic mega punch!" Beast Boy yelled, waving his arms around to emphasize his point.

"Yeah… because that's _not_ lame…" Raven muttered, rolling her eyes.

"Storm striker!" Cyborg said.

"Retaliation of the klipthar!" Seeing all the confused looks from the other titans, Starfire smiled innocently and realized she had top explain. "On my planet, the klipthar are a race of predators that are hunted as a food source. However, tamaraneans know never to hunt female klipthars, for they are most ferocious when defending their territory and young. If they believe they are threatened, the female klipthars will retaliate. It is… scary."

"Uh… yeah, that's a great name and all, but I need something shorter than that Starfire," Naruto said, trying not to hurt her feelings. "Something that sounds cool, but also emphasizes how dangerous this punch is with just the name."

"Final Impact."

The other titans turned to Raven in shock, who was looking a little embarrassed at the amount of attention she was receiving. "That's what you wanted isn't it?" She asked in her defense. "If someone actually gets hit by that punch, isn't it likely to be the last thing they ever experience?"

"Final Impact…" Naruto muttered, testing the name out for himself. "I like it. Thanks Raven!"

"Don't mention it," she said, pulling her hood up to cover her face.

Robin coughed into his fist to get Naruto's attention. Once he had it, the boy wonder walked over and held out his hand to Naruto. "I'm… sorry for pressuring you when you tried to shoot it down. I know you can get the job done when needed."

Naruto took the hand firmly and shook it. "No problem. I just wanted to make sure Starfire wasn't hurt."

"That makes two of us," Robin replied with a smile. "And whatever that thing was, you just made sure it won't be able to hurt her again."

"But… why did it wish to hurt me at all?" Starfire asked worriedly.

"Forget about that Star. Naruto just kicked its butt for you!" Beast Boy said. "And I think it's _fair_ to say our night at the _fair_ has been ruined, right guys?"

The other titans groaned at Beast Boy's lame joke and started heading home, with Raven stopping by the booth to retrieve her gift from Naruto.

* * *

"Come friends! I shall thank you for my rescue by reciting the poem of gratitude! All 6000 verses!" Starfire said cheerfully.

The other titans looked at her in dread and as one, pointed to Naruto. "Naruto's the one who saved you. Only he deserves to hear the poem!" They said in unison.

"Traitors…" Naruto mumbled soft enough for them to hear without alerting Starfire.

"I see you haven't changed a bit."

That was when the titans noticed a girl sitting on the top of their sofa. She had long flowing black hair, and dark purple eyes. She wore a simple black top that stopped just above her midriff, along with a matching skirt and boots that came up to her upper thigh. Some sort of metal plating covered up the skin on her midriff and arms, and formed a brace that covered her shoulders and the base of her neck.

"When we were little, I was always rescuing Starfire."

Starfire squealed and flew over to engulf the girl in a hug. "Sister!"

The girl returned the hug and held up a necklace with glittering green gem cut into a hexagonal shape. "Brought you a present."

Starfire gasped at the sight of it. "A Centauri moon diamond?! Where did you get—?"

"On the Centauri moons, of course." The girl responded, as she tied the necklace around Starfire's neck. "Oh look, it matches your eyes!"

Starfire positively beamed at being given such a rare and practically priceless gem from her sister. "You must meet my friends!" Without letting her get another word in, Starfire grabbed her sister's arm and forcefully dragged her back over to the other five waiting titans. "I wish to introduce my big sister…"

"Blackfire." She said, introducing herself and walking up to the titans who were now lined up and waiting to meet her. "And since Star told me all about the titans in her transmissions, let me guess… Cyborg."

"Pleased to meet you little lady," Cyborg greeted, holding out his hand to shake. Blackfire took his hand and applied a bit of her strength, slightly crushing Cyborg's hand. "Little lady, big handshake. Well, alright." Cyborg observed with a grin, not bothered in the least about his hand. He had a replacement in his room.

Blackfire then moved down the line to stand before the next titan. "Raven. I like that gemstone on your ajna chakra." Blackfire commented, glancing up at the red and black stone resting on Raven's forehead.

"You… know about chakras?" Raven asked with a small smile.

"I got _way_ into meditation on Altara Prime." Blackfire explained before moving on to the titan with green skin. "Beast Boy, what's up?"

"Nothing but the ceiling baby." Beast Boy said in an attempt to sound smooth. It had the desired effect, as Blackfire laughed and complimented him on his 'joke'. Beast Boy leaned over and whispered into Raven's ear with a grin. "See? She thinks I'm funny."

"Statistically, I suppose _someone _has to…" Raven insulted, immediately wiping the smile off of Beast Boy's face.

"You must be Naruto. Starfire told me you're the second strongest fighter on the team," Blackfire said, walking in a slow circle around the blonde. "What were her exact words? The core that attacks relentlessly, the furious storm that never rests. That's a pretty impressive reputation, Naruto." Blackfire complimented.

"Second? And who would be the first, Starfire?" Naruto asked Starfire with a friendly smile, to show he was not bothered in any way by her assessment of his skills in combat.

"Well, that would be your illustrious leader over here, Robin." Black fire said, letting her hand slide across Robin's shoulders as she walked behind him to his left side. "Oh, I am loving this cape! It's positively luscious!" She exclaimed, picking it up and running her fingers over the material.

"Thanks. It's a high-density polymerized titanium, ten times stronger than steel." Robin informed her.

"Fascinating," Blackfire commented, leaning in closer towards Robin's face with a sultry smile on her face. "And this mask makes you look very mysterious…"

"So! Beloved sister, what brings you to earth?" Starfire asked, stepping in-between Robin and Blackfire.

"I was in the quadrant. Thought I'd see if earthlings like to party," Blackfire said, jumping over the couch to sit down, one leg crossed over the other and her arms resting on the top to her left and right. "Besides, I needed a rest. Nearly got sucked into a black hole on the way here."

Robin, Cyborg, and Beast Boy immediately ran over and surrounded her, demanding to hear the story of her miraculous survival, while Naruto headed into the kitchen and started boiling a pot of water on the stove, as he pulled out a package of ramen from the cupboards and poured in the noodles. Raven began making herself a cup of herbal tea and sat down at the main table, placing her new stuffed black bird at the corner facing her.

Blackfire smirked and glanced over at Robin as she began to speak. "Ok, I'm cruising through the Draconis Nebula and—"

"Sister!" Starfire interjected. "That nebula is _full_ of black holes! You know travel there is forbidden."

"Most fun things in life are," Blackfire finally said, after having taken a moment to come up with a response. "Now, be a dear and fetch me one of those 'sodas' I've heard so much about. So anyway, I'm zooming over an event horizon approaching lightspeed, when all of a sudden—"

Starfire tuned out her sister's story with a sigh as she walked over to the fridge to fetch a soda, only to see Naruto already holding one out to her.

"Blackfire isn't what I expected, being that she's your sister and all, Starfire." Naruto remarked, as he watched his ramen cooking.

Starfire gratefully took the soda from Naruto and glanced over her shoulder at Blackfire, who was animatedly retelling her journey to earth, producing reactions of shock and amazement from her friends. "This is not new, Naruto. My sister has not changed since the last time we saw each other."

"Wonder who she kissed to learn English…" Raven muttered, retrieving her cup of herbal tea and sat back down beside Naruto.

* * *

"Our target was not located. The drones have failed," said an alien in red armor. In front of him were four launch tubes, three of which were now holding drones that returned from their search, and an empty tube at the end. All four tubes had lights attached to the front, three of which were green, while the last was red and beeping.

"Have they?" A second alien in red armor asked knowingly. He turned to the control panel displaying the drones' status and tapped the red indicator with a sharpened claw. The screen shifted to a view of earth, with three marks triangulating the position on the planet where the drone's signal had shut down.

"The one that probed earth did not return. That is where we will find the girl."

* * *

Starfire had not gotten much sleep last night. All her dreams were of the Teen Titans, only with a new, stronger, more well-liked, tamaranean: Blackfire. She had tried to set her doubts aside, yet they still lingered in her mind. Blackfire had already made quite the impression on the other titans, except for Naruto. He didn't seem to like her sister very much, and avoided her as much as possible without being overly rude. Though Starfire felt slightly guilty about it, it made her a feel a bit better that at least one of her friends was not so instantly taken with her sister.

"Perhaps I am not being fair to my sister," Starfire murmured to herself. "It is possible she desires to make friends as much as I did when I first met the others. And my friends would not replace me. I am being sil-ly. My sister and I simply require more time together!"

She walked into the living room and saw no one but Beast Boy and Cyborg, who were playing a video game.

"You wanna pass me!" Cyborg taunted, increasing Beast Boy's irritation. "You wanna pass me, but you can't pas—you passed me!" Cyborg stated in shock, changing the frown on Beast Boy's face into a confident smirk.

Beast Boy's green ship easily overtook Cyborg's white and blue ship. "Tighten the turn, jets, and nitro!" His ship suddenly accelerated, further securing his place in the lead. He laughed in success and did a small victory dance before jumping back onto the couch and focusing on the game again. This was the last lap, so he only had to keep the lead for a little longer.

"Tell me, have either of you seen Blackfire?" Starfire asked, walking up behind them.

"Blazin' B?" Beast Boy asked without turning away from the screen. "She was here just a second ago."

Cyborg's ship suddenly smashed into Beast Boy's and knocked it off the track long enough for his own to move ahead. "Aw yeah! Back in the lead!" Cyborg said with a smug laugh.

"What fun. May I join your game?" Starfire asked.

"Winner plays Blackfire." Cyborg stated.

Beast Boy had a dopy grin on his face, looking very much like a lovesick puppy with hearts in his eyes. "Yeah, she rules at this game."

"I see…" Starfire said dejectedly, walking out of the living room. Her sister had already been by, and proved her mastery over the games Beast Boy and Cyborg loved playing. Truthfully Starfire did not even know how to play the game, she simply wanted to spend time with her friends who had been fawning over Blackfire ever since her arrival.

She headed upstairs and stopped in front of Raven's room, knocking softly. The door opened just a crack, enough for Raven's hooded face to peek out and see who was knocking. "Is… my sister in there?" Starfire asked hesitantly.

"No." Raven began closing her door only for Starfire to move her head, looking as if she still had more to say.

"Oh, might you wish to hang out with me? We could visit your favorite depressing café." Starfire suggested hopefully. Such dark and gloomy places made her feel slightly uncomfortable, but Raven was her friend. If it made her hap… satisfied, then she could bear with it.

"Already been. It was open mic, and Blackfire wanted to share. Your sister's poetry is surprisingly dark." Raven remarked before finally closing her door.

Starfire sighed in disappointment and began moving on to find either Robin or Naruto. As she approached the gym, she saw Robin's and Blackfire's shadows approaching each other until it looked as if they were embracing, and gasped in disbelief.

"That's perfect Robin. Hold me just like that and… hiyah!" Blackfire grabbed Robin's arm and sent him spinning through the air until he crashed into the rack of dumbbells, knocking them all to the ground and destroying the rack. "Learned that from a venzo master on Tyrus III." Blackfire boasted.

"Hello Robin, and… my sister. Am I interrupting?" Starfire asked innocently, as she walked into the gym.

"Not at all." Robin said. "Blackfire was just showing me some alien martial arts. How come you never taught me these cool moves?"

Starfire looked down, unable to admit to Robin that she did not possess the knowledge of such combat skills. The choice was taken away from her by Blackfire anyways.

"Probably because she doesn't know them. I was always the better fighter," Blackfire bragged. "Come on, I'll show you the technique I once used to stop a raging orthax." Blackfire grabbed Robin's hand and led him over to the training mat on the other side of the gym, the two of them so focused that they forgot Starfire was even in the gym.

Starfire slumped off in depression, when she heard faint booms and explosions coming from the roof. Suspecting an attack, she quickly flew up the stairs leading to the roof and rushed out, only to see Naruto bent over, holding his knees and panting heavily. She noticed smoke rising from the other end of the roof and sweat running down her friend's face. "Naruto? What may I ask are you doing out here?"

Naruto stood up and wiped the sweat from his face with his shirt and grinned tiredly at her. "Projectile scoring. Cyborg came up with it last week. Not only is it a way to train your ranged attacks, but it also tells you when you've made any improvement. Watch."

Naruto raised Flame Arrow and fired a storm shot dead center at the smoke cloud, which was clearing away to reveal a large rectangular metal panel that had folded up from the roof. To either side of the panel, two large screens had also risen up. Apparently the panel and two screens were built into the roof itself, and designed to pop up when needed. The screen on the left displayed name of the current tester and the power score rating, or PSR of the most recent attack used. Right now it read: **Naruto 670/1000.**

The screen on the right listed the top projectile scores and who received them. There were only seven scores listed with the five top slots being taken by Naruto, while spot number six was taken by Blackfire with a rating of **590/1000**, and spot number seven was taken by Cyborg with a rating of **560/1000**. The number one and number two slots actually had readings of **?/1000** indicating the PSR was too strong for the current system to record.

"See? Cyborg built this after the first time he and I debated over which of us was a better ranged fighter. I obviously proved my point," Naruto said with a grin. "And for the shots the system can actually get a proper reading on, I'm training myself everyday so they'll eventually become too strong to be measured as well. He made the panel with several different types of metal and reinforced it with dispersion shields to make it all but indestructible. Well, at least from ranged attacks. I'm sure _you_ could break it if you punched it with your strength or something."

"Oh, how amusing! May I test the strength of my starbolts Naruto?" Starfire asked eagerly. She glanced at Blackfire's score of 590 and was filled with determination to best it.

"Be my guest. Make sure you put everything you have into the shot Starfire. If it's going up on the board, you're gonna want to make sure it's worth remembering!" Naruto told her passionately. He stepped aside and allowed Starfire to take his place.

Starfire closed her eyes, giving her a moment to focus. She wanted to impress Naruto with her score, so she intended to deliver her best shot. However all she could think about was that Blackfire was getting closer to Cyborg, Beast Boy, Raven, and… Robin. Starfire opened her eyes and looked at the metal panel across from her as if it was her sister, mocking her for not fitting in, and not being able to bond with her friends as well as her. A bright green glow began emanating from her right hand, and with a scream of fury, she sent a starbolt sailing straight towards the panel, resulting in a cloud of smoke and a loud ringing sound, as if someone had struck a gong.

Starfire slowly lowered her hand, looking slightly ashamed for losing control like that and allowing such poisonous thoughts to flood her mind.

"Star, that was incredible! Check out your score!" Naruto exclaimed.

Hearing Naruto's shout, she glanced up at the scoreboard and gasped in shock. Her starbolt had registered an impressive 630, placing her just under Naruto's lowest score and, more importantly, well above Blackfire's score. She allowed herself a proud smile. She had finally beaten her sister at something. Even if Blackfire wasn't here to witness her achievement, it still felt _amazing._

Naruto resealed his armor into the buckle and walked over to Starfire, who was still starring at the scoreboard, as if unable to believe the results. "That was impressive. And you know what else? That panel registers PSR _per shot_. If you hit an enemy with several starbolts at that level, you could beat almost anyone."

Starfire turned away from the board and shook her head. "No, I must continue to improve, as you do. If I am unsatisfied with myself in my current state, then I must work hard to reach a point I will find acceptable. Thank you for teaching me this, friend Naruto." Starfire turned and pulled her friend into a hug.

"Star… too tight… back breaking…" Naruto gasped out, feeling Starfire's tamaranean strength at work.

"Oh!" Starfire released Naruto, who landed unsteadily on his feet, but managed not to fall over.

After he was sure the feeling had come back to his body, Naruto glanced out over the water and saw that the sun was setting quickly. "It's getting late, Star. We should head inside."

"Do you believe the others would be willing to watch a movie together, Naruto?" Starfire asked impulsively, just before Naruto headed downstairs.

"Yeah, sounds like fun. Why don't you get things ready and I'll meet you and the others by the TV after I've had a shower. I smell like Beast Boy's room…" Naruto muttered, walking down the stairs with a bit more urgency at that revelation.

Starfire grinned and flew down the stairs, passing Naruto on the way, and headed towards the living room to prepare everything.

* * *

Naruto sighed in content, walking out of his room after a relaxing hot shower. The only thing better, would be if there was an open-air onsen located on the island that he could enjoy under the night sky. He quickly found the other titans and had them all meet him in the living room, but refused to answer why. He felt that Starfire deserved to bring it up, as it was her idea.

As they were all seated on the couch, Starfire walked up to them carrying two stacks of movies, along with two buckets of popcorn and all the best brands of candy. "Friends! I invite you to join me in the togetherness of a stay-home movie night. I bring you popcorn and non-cotton candies. Tell me, what sort of movie shall we view?"

"Action!"

"Comedy!"

"Sci-fi!"

"Horror…"

Naruto looked at the other titans in exasperation. "I swear, it's like the titans as a whole are one person with multiple-personality disorder. We have all night, why not just watch them all?"

Starfire clapped in glee at Naruto's suggestion, unfortunately dropping all the movies and food to the ground to do so. "Oh, that is a wonderful idea friend Naruto! We shall stay up through the night to watch all of the movies!"

"Forget the flicks, kids. We're going out!" All six titans turned towards Blackfire, who had spoken, and saw she was now wearing the familiar bright purple outfit unique to Starfire.

"We are?" Starfire asked in confusion, taking a better look at her sister as she walked across the room to the couch. "Where did you...? Are those my…?"

"Heard about a party downtown, cool crowd, hot music." Blackfire tempted the five seated titans.

"Yeah!" Beast Boy agreed eagerly.

"I'm in," Cyborg said nonchalantly.

Robin shrugged. "Why not?"

"And it's in a creepy rundown warehouse…" Blackfire added, since Raven had not said a word yet. However, that little tidbit of information had successfully ensnared the dark girl's attention, as she actually closed her book and started following the other three titans. "And you, Naruto? Feel like enjoying a party?"

Naruto frowned and glanced over at Starfire, who was looking depressed and hurt. "No thanks. After the training session I had earlier, I could use a little relaxation at home. Starfire planned a movie night, and that sounds like just the thing I need." He had to resist smiling back at the utterly relieved look Starfire sent him behind Blackfire's back.

Blackfire frowned momentarily, but it was replaced by that same half-smirk, half-smile that she sported on her face nearly 24/7. "Suit yourself. If you change your mind, Robin told me you can find us through the communicators, or something like that." She and the other four titans left the room, leaving Starfire and Naruto alone.

"In that case, why don't we watch whichever movie you want first, Starfire?" Naruto asked, as he cleaned up the spilled popcorn, tossed it into the trash, and started a fresh batch in the microwave.

"Naruto, I… thank you for staying when the others left. I did not wish to stay here alone, but I have also begun to dislike extended periods of time in my sister's company." Starfire said quietly, too embarrassed to meet her friend's eye.

Naruto chuckled and leaned back against the counter with his arms crossed over his chest. "That's what friends are for, Starfire. Besides, your sister just isn't the type of person I get along with."

Starfire looked up and tilted her head to the side curiously. "What type of person do you refer to, friend Naruto?"

"Well…" Naruto started, trying to figure out a way to phrase it. "She's kind of... what's the word... egotistical. She thinks she's flawless and perfect, and she just has to prove it to everyone." Naruto explained uneasily, not sure how Starfire would feel about him insulting her sister. "She thinks I didn't see it, but when Blackfire saw her PSR in the projectile scoring, she gave me a dirty look."

"She is very competitive, and does not like to be beaten," Starfire explained, feeling more at ease now that she knew Naruto's real feelings towards her sister. "And, as you say, she has always thought such things about herself."

"Yeah, in that respect, she's starting to remind me of a guy I knew as a kid, who also hated for anyone to be better than him." Naruto pulled out the bag of popcorn and emptied it out into a large bowl, carrying it over to the couch while Starfire selected the movie and inserted it into the DVD player. "Actually, it's almost eerie how similar your sister is to that guy I know. He came from a noble family, and grew up with everyone kissing his ass and telling him how perfect he was…" Naruto said in distaste.

"Pressing their lips to his rear does not sound very hygienic... did he at least bathe himself first?" Starfire said unsurely.

He couldn't help it. Naruto busted out laughing at the mental image. That bastard would have thrown such a hissy fit. "T-That's not what I meant, Starfire." Naruto finally got out in-between his laughing. Only after he had sufficiently calmed down, did he answer. "What I meant, was that they were treating him nicely so that he would look more favorably upon them, and possibly use his influence to benefit them."

Starfire nodded in understanding this time. "There are such people on my planet as well. They would come bearing gifts for the king and queen and request things in return."

Naruto flipped on the TV and saw that they were watching a movie called Enchanted. Just from the title menu, Naruto could tell this movie had Starfire written all over it. "I don't doubt it. There are always people like that wherever you go. But let's get to what I've wanted to ask you for a while now. Why have you been so gloomy ever since Blackfire got here? That's not like you. Other than Beast Boy, you're the most cheerful member of the team."

For a few minutes, Starfire did not respond, refusing to turn away from the screen as the movie started. But Naruto knew from experience when a person was looking, but not seeing. She was more focused on his question than the movie. "It is because I am... afraid." She finally admitted.

"Afraid of what?" Naruto asked, pausing the movie.

Starfire turned to face him, and sighed. "I am afraid I will be replaced. Blackfire does not have trouble with English expressions or phrases, she is very skilled at the video games Beast Boy and Cyborg enjoy, she is able to recite poetry that impresses even Raven, and she is knowledgeable of many combat moves that she can teach to Robin! Why would they not replace me with my sister?"

"Because you're our _**friend**_." Naruto reminded her, heavily emphasizing the last word. "You and Blackfire are completely different. That doesn't make her better than you, not by a long shot. We've been fighting beside _you_, we've gotten to know _you_, and we've formed bonds of friendship with _you_. Nothing and no one can take that away, especially not your sister. We'll always be your friends, Starfire. I can promise that on behalf of **all** the titans."

A sniffle from Starfire was all the warning Naruto received before she launched forward and hugged him tightly, her face buried in his shirt, and her tamaranean strength slowly squeezing the air out of his lungs. "Thank you, friend Naruto. You do not realize the importance of your words to me." Starfire said, her voice muffled by his shirt, and distorted because of her tears.

Naruto pried her arms off of him and gently pulled her off, looking into her tear-filled eyes. "I think I have a fairly good Idea, Star. And nothing I said was a lie. Just have a little faith in us, alright? If it ever came down to it, all of us would take your side over Blackfire's."

* * *

"The girl may have defeated one drone, but she will not fare so well against three." The first alien in red armor reactivated the remaining three drones, launching them down towards the planet. The second alien tracked their progress to the planet on the command console, noticing that all three headed for the same point on the planet, but from there went their separate ways. Two of them headed towards the north, while the last drone headed to the west. "They have split up!"

"Have they?" The first alien asked, intrigued. "Then they have detected two tamaranean DNA signatures on the planet, instead of just one as we expected."

"What should we do?"

"We shall follow the drone heading west. The other two will be able to handle the girl if they find her, but our target has already proven capable of dispatching a lone enemy. This time, she will not escape our grasp."

* * *

Blackfire led the titans down to the docks, which was full of abandoned and empty warehouses, but only one had loud booming music coming from inside it, with lights flashing out through the windows. The second they walked in, they were instantly made aware of how many people were actually here. The warehouse was not small, and it was absolutely packed with people.

"Step aside earthlings, the queen of the galaxy has arrived!" Blackfire announced loudly, as she made her way out into the crowd of dancing people, who parted for her like the red sea. Only when she was sure she had made it to the exact center of the warehouse, did Blackfire finally begin dancing. Seeing the titans standing around awkwardly behind her made her laugh. "Now don't tell me you big top superheroes are afraid of a little dancing."

"Bet you Cyborg can do the robot," Beast Boy joked, demonstrating the extremely outdated and lame dance moves to enhance his joke, receiving a deathly glare from Cyborg for his efforts. The boys glanced at each other and shrugged as they started dancing and enjoying themselves.

Raven on the other hand, refused to participate, and simply crossed her arms over her chest. Blackfire had told her this would be a creepy, rundown warehouse. However, the only thing wrong with this building was that, prior to this party, it had no use or function. There were shipping crates stacked along several of the walls, and the lighting being used provided a lot of shadows, but this was _not_ what she expected. She would've been better off simply staying at home and watching a movie with Starfire and Naruto. "This party is pointless."

"Everything's pointless. Wanna go talk about it?"

Raven glanced to her right and saw a teen with pale skin and long black hair. He was wearing plain black jeans and a black shirt with a picture of a ghost on it. A very pathetic, non-scary looking ghost. For some reason, she found herself comparing him to Naruto of all people, and came to the conclusion that this boy wasn't worth her time or energy. Without sparing him a second glance or a word of leave, Raven simply walked towards the exit, unable to think of a reason to stay here when she could be curled up in bed with a good book.

The second she stepped out, she spotted something flying towards her off in the distance. As she narrowed her eyes to try and get a better look, she gasped when she discovered it was two more of the drones that attacked Starfire. Were they after her this time or... "Blackfire." Raven said in realization. She covered one of the nearby docks with dark energy, and began pulling up the wooden planks, sending them towards the two drones one by one, like a barrage of wooden missiles. However, the drones simply charged straight through them all and kept heading for the warehouse.

"Great, and no Naruto to help out this time. I definitely should have just stayed home tonight." Raven muttered in annoyance, sending an empty oil drum at the closest enemy.

* * *

Naruto back flipped over a tentacle that had attempted to stab him in the gut, and flew up in the air, hovering just below the ceiling. Another one of those drones had attacked, crashing straight through the main window in the living room, and subsequently the TV screen as well, and was trying to capture Starfire again.

Naruto ignited his thunder ring and inserted it into a box on the left side of his hip, releasing the thunder cartridge, which he promptly shoved into the rear skull on Flame Arrow. As the drone chased Starfire around the room, trying to ensnare her with its appendages, he fired a powerful Storm Thunder shot into the side of the drone as it passed in front of him. The solidified red beam with electricity weaving around it punched a large hole clean through the drone, and sent it out the window and into the ocean surrounding the island. "Star, are you alright?"

Starfire landed down on the ground and inspected herself for injuries. "I received a few minor cuts from the shattered glass, but am otherwise uninjured, friend Naruto. And yourself?"

Naruto dropped down to the ground, landing in a crouch before standing up and brushing shards of glass off of his clothes. "I going to have a bruise where that thing slammed a tentacle across my back, but otherwise I'm fine. Still, I wonder how that thing knew to find you here."

"It was programmed to seek out tamaranean DNA."

Naruto brought Flame Arrow to bear without hesitation, training it squarely on the two aliens standing atop a large hover ship just outside the tower's broken window. "I'm assuming you sent that thing to capture Starfire. In that case, you have ten seconds to explain why before I blow you off that ship, and give the sharks a nice meal."

The two aliens paused, as if stunned, and quickly began punching in commands on the console attached to their ship. "Here it is. The information our contact provided confirms she has a sibling. Starfire of Tamaran, designated biological sister." Upon that discovery, the two turned back to the human who was still pointing his powerful laser cannon at them. "Starfire of Tamaran, you have our apologies, and our assurances that no charges will be filed against you, provided that you return that stolen Centauri moon diamond."

Starfire and Naruto glanced at each other in shock. She made to take it off, but Naruto stopped her with an outstretched right hand, Flame Arrow still aimed at the two aliens. "What do you mean stolen? It was given to her as a gift from her sister Blackfire. And who the hell are you two anyways?"

The two aliens looked rather impatient by this point, but could not see a reason to further aggravate this human. He knew of their target, and his combat abilities might prove more useful in subduing her than the drones. "We are Centauri police. I am Kai, and this is my partner, Cron. We are chasing a tamaranean who has committed high crimes throughout the entire Centauri system, including the theft of a rare Centauri moon diamond belonging to the queen. The one you know as Blackfire of Tamaran."

Starfire gasped. Her sister was a criminal? "Then… my sister did not come to visit us! She came here to hide! To escape!"

"And she was going to let you get arrested in her place," Naruto observed, glancing at the gem still sitting around Starfire's neck. "They would have taken you in without a second thought just for having that in your possession had I not dropped your name into the conversation. They never would have asked, and you wouldn't have been able to plead your case."

Starfire frowned, feeling deeply betrayed that her sister would do something like that to her. She tore off the gem from around her neck and tossed it to the two Centauri police. Cron held up a crab-like pincer and extended a long green tentacle from inside it, wrapping around the gem and bringing it back to him. "Starfire of Tamaran will not be held accountable for the crimes of her sister, but we are officially requesting your aid in capturing the fugitive before she escapes again."

Naruto grinned slyly, glancing at Starfire. "What do you think Star? Feel like ruining your sister's night?"

Starfire looked up determinedly and held up two brightly glowing green hands. "Oh yes, I am most eager to deliver the butt kicking to my sister for her deceitful acts!"

Naruto nodded and lowered Flame Arrow, no longer seeing Kai or Cron as their enemies. "Then you have the Teen Titans on your side, officers."

* * *

Beast Boy yelped as he was bound by the tentacles of one of the drones, with Cyborg running after him, trying to shoot it down. Then the second drone slammed into his side, and sent him skidding across the ground. Cyborg quickly leapt back to his feet and sidestepped the charging drone, grabbing its tentacles and swung it around several times before sending it soaring straight into a wall.

Raven levitated two giant shipping crates, and sent them sailing into the drone holding Beast Boy. The first one seemed to stun it, but it was the second that actually forced it to release the changeling. "Dude I'll fight you tentacle to tentacle!" Beast Boy shifted into a large octopus and attached four of his limbs to the drone's body, the suction cups preventing it from escaping. That was, until it slammed one of its own tentacles into the side of Beast Boy's head, forcing him to revert back to human, releasing the mechanical squid.

The drone Cyborg had thrown into a wall flew straight towards him, its tentacles spinning rapidly like a pink saw blade, and sent him colliding with the wall, which could not support his weight, and broke apart. As he lay on his back, Cyborg saw the drone come through the hole and head straight for Blackfire who had dragged Robin off somewhere earlier.

Blackfire had been caught unawares, and was pushed out through the back wall and into the alley by the drone, which now had a tentacle wrapped around her leg and was flying off with her. Her hands began glowing purple as she sent a starbolt whizzing into its underside, forcing it to drop her moments before it was blown to smithereens.

The second drone made a new hole in the wall, as it was forced out by nearly two dozen shipping crates all held together with dark energy, and smashed into the wall behind Blackfire. However, the persistent thing simply broke through all the crates, shattering them into splinters, and sent a tentacle shooting towards Blackfire.

A spinning red and yellow birdarang sliced the tentacle in half, and returned to Robin's waiting hand. He stowed it away on his belt and was about to move in to finish the last enemy, but Blackfire flew in and fired a thin purple beam from her eyes at its underside, causing it to explode immediately.

"Aw yeah! Good time!" Cyborg praised, as the titans ran over to Blackfire.

"Nice shootin' tex," Beast Boy complimented.

"How did you know where to hit them?" Robin asked.

Blackfire smiled demurely and shrugged. "Lucky guess?" She was then blasted off of her feet by a stick of dynamite, her body flying out of the ensuing cloud of smoke to slam into the dumpster beside her.

"More like experience, right Blackfire?"

Robin and the others glanced up, to see Naruto and Starfire standing atop some sort of hovercraft, along with two unfamiliar aliens. Naruto had Flame Arrow aimed directly at Blackfire, while Starfire had two green globes of energy surrounding her hands, and was also looking at Blackfire fiercely.

"Naruto! What are you doing?! Why did you attack Blackfire?!" Robin demanded.

"She's a liar and a criminal, Robin. Blackfire stole that gem she gave to Starfire, and intended to let her sister get arrested in her place."

"He's obviously lying, probably on Starfire's behalf. She's always been jealous of me, and now she's even managed to turn Naruto against me." Blackfire stood up and wiped off the dirt from her clothes, wincing slightly as she felt a stab of pain in her left shoulder.

Naruto narrowed his eyes, as he heard Blackfire's attempt to weasel her way out of this. He knew exactly what she was doing. If she played Robin and the others against him and Starfire, she would have a perfect distraction to escape. He looked at Starfire meaningfully and called out to Robin. "It all comes down to who you trust more, Robin. Blackfire or Starfire!"

That settled it. Robin pulled out his bo-staff and extended it to its full length as he turned to face Blackfire. "You're not getting away, Blackfire." Cyborg, Raven and Beast Boy followed his lead and took up combat positions behind their leader, their trust in Robin and Starfire unwavering.

Blackfire frowned and scoffed derisively. "Typical goody-goody superheroes. But what makes you think you can stop me?" She sent an overcharged starbolt at their feet, blasting the four of them into a wall, while she took off into the air in the opposite direction.

"You will not escape this time, sister." Starfire took off after her, closely followed by Naruto, while the Centauri Police were following the two of them on their hover ship. Starfire actually managed to fly up directly into Blackfire's way, with Naruto rising up behind her to prevent any evasive maneuvers. "Hello sister," Starfire greeted furiously.

"Aww, you're mad. "Did I hurt little Starfire's feelings?" Blackfire mocked.

Starfire glared and jabbed a finger at Blackfire. "You are a criminal, and you were going to let me take your place in jail!"

"Well… yeah. Who wants to be stuck in a cramped cell for several dozen years?" Blackfire asked rhetorically.

Her casual confession set off Starfire even more. "You are going to surrender without conflict, and allow the Centauri police to take you to jail!"

"And what will _you_ do if I don't?" Blackfire challenged confidently. She heard a click behind her, and saw Naruto aiming an arm-mounted cannon directly at her. At this distance, she would not be able to avoid the shot. "I see you need someone to fight your battles for you, Starfire."

"Oh, I'm not fighting you," Naruto corrected. "That's Starfire's job. I'm just here to make sure you don't try to run off, and that the Centauri don't interfere before Starfire's sufficiently proven she's better than you."

"Ha! As if!" Blackfire held up her right hand and sent a purple starbolt shooting into her sister's stomach at close range. Starfire screamed and began falling towards the water below them. "I was always the better fighter."

Starfire quickly managed to reorient herself and stopped her fall, looking up at her sister who was waiting with a smirk. "_Was_ is the correct word, sister. Since the last time we fought, I have been working hard and improving myself alongside my friends, growing stronger than I was the day before. In your arrogance, you have allowed yourself to grow stagnant. The gap between us has rapidly closed, and I shall now show you by how much!"

Starfire flew up towards her sister, expertly dodging and weaving through the hail of starbolts raining down upon her, until she was close enough to send her own starbolt directly into her sister's right hand, the energy shock not only preventing her from using it to return fire, but also inflicting moderate burns as well. She swiftly closed the remaining distance, and sent a powerful kick into Blackfire's side, knocking the air out of her sister, and sending her plummeting straight towards the Centauri police.

Kai raised his pincer and caught Blackfire in the green tentacle that was launched from within. "Blackfire of Tamaran, you are under arrest for numerous counts of theft, arson, and destruction of public and private property."

Naruto flew over and set a hand on Starfire's shoulder, nodding approvingly. Starfire allowed the energy to dissipate from her hands and smiled cheerfully as she waved towards her sister. "Farewell sister! Although you did betray and attack me, it was… still very nice to see you."

"Next time it won't be so nice! I _will_ get out of jail little sister, and I _will_ get even!" Blackfire threatened, as Kai brought the captive tamaranean down and secured her inside a containment tube built into the hover ship, which then started ascending through earth's atmosphere, disappearing from view.

Naruto gave Starfire's shoulder a comforting squeeze. "Come on Starfire, let's go home."

Starfire glanced at Naruto and smiled brightly, nodding eagerly. "Yes, let us return home."

* * *

Starfire opened the door to the roof and, as expected, found Naruto working on his projectile scoring once more. This time, he was firing bullets from his sun belt, but intentionally missed all but one shot so he could get a more accurate reading on the PSR of a single projectile. The bullet impacted against the panel and the scoreboard to the left lit up. **730/1000**.

"Naruto, may I speak with you for a moment?"

Naruto turned around and nodded, drawing the sun ammunition belt back into its box and walking over to Starfire. He wiped the sweat from his face with a towel he'd had the foresight to bring this time. "Sure. What did you need?"

Starfire gave a bow of respect towards her blonde friend. "I wished to thank you. While my sister was here, you offered me companionship and trust when I needed it most. Without you, I do not think I could have defeated Blackfire."

Naruto was stunned at first, but smiled when he came up with a brilliant idea. "Starfire, may I see you fire a starbolt at the panel again?"

"Of course, friend Naruto." Starfire stepped forward and sent a bright green starbolt sailing straight into the panel, producing the same low gong-like sound as before. This time, the scoreboard read: **680/1000**, successfully bumping Naruto's lowest score out of the top five, and replacing it with hers.

Naruto nodded, having expected a result like that. "You said it yourself, Starfire. You're continuously improving and growing stronger, day by day. I stood by you when you needed a friend and always will, but your strength and victory over Blackfire were well-earned."

"Oh, I am so glad to have a friend like you Naruto! I shall never forget the wise words you have said to me for as long as I shall live!" Starfire exclaimed exuberantly, grabbing her friend and pulling him into a crushing hug.

"We're gonna… have to… work on… those hugs…" Naruto gasped out, his face slowly turning blue.

* * *

Finally done. I'm sorry for the Rob X Star fans, but I cut out their interaction to start working on an older brother kind of relationship between Naruto and Star. I felt it needed to be established earlier rather than later.

As always, read and review, and let me know about any spelling or grammar issues so I can fix them to give you a more enjoyable reading experience.


	4. Divide and Conquer

Disclaimer: I don't own anything concerning Naruto, Teen Titans, or Katekyo Hitman Reborn in anyway.

Okay, I just have to say, Teen Titans Go (the new cartoon on CN, not the comic series) is complete and utter CRAP! They've RUINED the Teen Titans as I knew them. They've completely changed the characters so much, that what made them impressive, respectable, or likable in the original series is gone. Case in point: Trigon. He ACTUALLY brought about the end of the world before Raven kicked his ass into oblivion.

I mean, how can you change an all-powerful, universally feared (Even the Tamaraneans had heard about and feared him) demon overlord into a pathetic dad who freely grants (stupid) powers to the Teen Titans, and then bitches, whines, moans, and complains that his daughter doesn't like him. WHAT THE FUCK CN?!

I DREAD what they might do to Slade, the most badass villain in the series.

Oh, and Raven DOES NOT LIKE PONIES! That's completely out of character. I prefer Raven to be a dark, quiet, **mature**, highly intelligent, _mostly_ anti-social, magical **badass**. Not a pegasister. (My best friend came up with that one. To my knowledge, there's no female equivalent of 'brony'. )

Sorry, rant over. Had to get that out. All my opinion, not claiming the show sucks as a fact. Enjoy the next chapter.

* * *

Sitting down at the small circular table in front of the curved couch, were Raven and Cyborg, who had been trying to best the other at chess for the last two hours. Cyborg claimed Raven's last knight with his rook, cornering her king for the win.

"Checkmate! I win Raven! Oh yeah! Go Cyborg! Go Cyborg! You beat Raven!" Cyborg had leapt to his feet and was now performing an embarrassing victory dance while repeating his boastful chant over and over. Oh, he knew that the only reason he'd defeated her was through _heavy_ reliance on the computer portion of his brain, but he wasn't going to let that fact tarnish a victory over the, undefeated at chess, Raven.

Beast Boy, hearing the commotion, paused his video game and came running over laughing. "You lost to Cy, Raven? At chess? Well, still think you're so superior, miss high and mighty, 'I'm so much smarter than Beast Boy'?"

Cyborg stopped his victory dance immediately, seeing the slightly impressed and respectful look on her face from the result of the game, fade away and be replaced by a neutral, yet dangerous, glare. He started subtly stepping away from Beast Boy, who was taking this opportunity to throw all the things she found wrong with him back at her, now that she 'wasn't so superior after all'.

"Raven's knight, Naruto, takes Cyborg's pawn, Beast Boy." She said coldly, with a hint of a smirk forming on her lips.

Naruto, who had been arm wrestling Robin on the kitchen counter behind the two of them, slammed boy wonder's right arm down with a loud smack, before charging straight towards Beast Boy and tackling him to the floor. Naruto was now grinding his knuckles into the green changeling's head while simultaneously rubbing his face into the floor. "For the record, you **are** a disgusting eater who ruins the appetites of anyone watching. Raven wasn't wrong about that."

"Durr, helph meh!" Beast Boy mumbled, his face still being forced down into the carpet.

Cyborg leapt over the back of the couch and picked up Beast Boy's forgotten controller, un-pausing the game and continuing from where it was left off. "Just make sure you don't break him Naruto. New pawns take a long time to train. Not to mention how long it took to housebreak this one."

"That's so not cool…" Beast Boy said when Naruto finally allowed him to lift his head off of the carpet. He took Naruto's offered hand, and used it to pull himself up just as the alarm started blaring throughout the tower.

Robin ran over to the main monitor and brought up a map of the city. "Cinderblock's heading towards the prison… and there's someone setting off explosions down at the dock warehouses. We'll need to split up to take care of them both."

"I'll head down to the docks." Naruto volunteered. "Probably just some kids who got their hands on fireworks. Nothing I can't handle. Cinderblock might need all five of you guys to take down, though. I'll catch up with you as soon as I'm finished."

Robin nodded. That was a good plan. While both Raven and Starfire could get across the city faster than Naruto, Robin knew that of the six of them, Naruto was probably the one titan best suited to fighting alone. And it wasn't as if Naruto was lacking in speed, now that he could expel Sun flames from his boots instead of Storm flames. On a good day, even Cyborg had difficulty tracking Naruto's top speed.

"Just make it quick. If Cinderblock's trying to start a prison break, we won't be able to recapture the other prisoners _and_ stop him from getting away."

* * *

The main road to Jump City's prison hinted at the damage the titans could expect from Cinderblock. Cars had been smashed, crushed, demolished, and thrown to either side of the road, releasing smoke or fully on fire. The prison's front gates had been knocked clear off their hinges, and the one responsible was stalking forward steadily towards the doors to the main facility.

"Raven, get us inside. We'll cut him off before he gets too far." Robin ordered, looking at the damage from the prison's entrance.

Raven nodded and enveloped them in dark energy, which quickly sunk into the ground just as three of the prison's guards made their way over from the opposite side of the prison.

"Code red: cell block 9! Move out!" The guards quickly rushed in after Cinderblock through the destroyed gates. As they passed through the courtyard, they were relieved to see that there were no prisoners escaping yet. "Main yard secure." That statement was soon proven false as the central facility's main gates were ripped off and thrown down at their feet.

"There he is!" The three guards stepped up into a firing line, raising their pulse rifles at the large being, whose body composition lived up to its namesake. "He'll free the criminals. Fire!" Without hesitation, all three began firing their rifles at Cinderblock, the bright glowing blue bolts impacting against his armored body, yet having no noticeable effect.

Cinderblock stopped, and turned around to face the three guards firing at him. He lifted up his left leg and slammed it down on the ground, uprooting the concrete all the way to the guards, sending them flying into the walls. Satisfied, he slammed his fists into the second set of security doors, and continued on into the facility.

"You know Cinderblock, normally the bad guys break _out_ of jail." Beast Boy quipped, after Raven brought the five titans out through the wall just short of the ceiling.

"And I can think of five good reasons why you don't want to break in." Robin said, as he dropped down and landed on the ground in a crouch. "One!"

"Two!" Starfire quickly flew down and landed down on Robin's right, standing with her back partially turned towards Cinderblock.

"Three!" Beast Boy dropped down as a large green tiger behind Robin but shifted back immediately upon landing.

"Four." Raven intoned, floating down from the portal she had created above, landing gracefully to Robin's left.

"Five!" Cyborg was the last to descend, all but slamming his heavily armored feet down upon the concrete floor between Robin and Raven.

"No matter how you do the math, it all adds up to you going down," Robin threatened as the five assembled titans stood ready to stop Cinderblock here and now. "So, are you going to go quietly?"

"Or is this gonna get loud?" Cyborg asked.

Cinderblock roared in response and ran forward towards the titans, both massive fists raised in preparation to assault the ones standing in his way.

"Titans, go!" On Robin's command, the titans all surged forward to meet Cinderblock head on. Cyborg grabbed Cinderblock's right fist as it swung towards Raven in attempt to swat her out of the air, and held onto it tightly, preventing Cinderblock from moving anywhere for the moment. Starfire then sent a barrage of starbolts straight into Cinderblock's chest while Beast Boy morphed into a green rhino and charged straight towards Cinderblock, knocking him out of Cyborg's grasp and into the prison wall, forming a myriad of cracks behind him.

"Dude, is this it? This guy is totally easy!" Beast Boy boasted to Robin and Cyborg. The three of them were then sent sailing into the air by a massive slab of concrete Cinderblock had ripped straight out of the wall and thrown. Robin and Beast Boy crashed into Starfire and Raven respectively, bringing the two titans that could fly to the ground painfully, while Cyborg was sent crashing into the wall.

Cyborg pulled himself off the wall and groaned, as he rubbed the growing bruise on his head. "I'm starting to feel jealous of Naruto. He got the easy job."

* * *

Naruto closed his eyes and relished the feeling of the wind blowing through his hair, as he flew over the city. Flying was incredible, and he was so glad that he could experience it. As he got closer to the docks, he could see a plume of smoke rising from one of the warehouses and frowned. He couldn't hear any explosions taking place, and there didn't seem to be any damage to the warehouse itself. That only reinforced his belief that he was probably here to stop some kids from playing with fireworks.

He landed down in front of the warehouse, but had to step aside from the smoke coming out from between the slightly parted doors. Shaking his head in frustration, he slid the door apart and walked into the warehouse.

It was completely empty.

There were numerous metal beams connecting from the ground to the roof, and a smoke machine in the center of the warehouse. "Must have been a prank. Probably trying to trick the fire department into coming down, or something." Naruto walked over and flipped the smoke machine off, only for the warehouse doors to slam shut behind him.

Naruto stood up instantly, a stick of dynamite already loaded into Flame Arrow, and spun around, searching for an enemy. With no light filtering in from the outside, he was left in utter darkness, save for the Storm flames burning on Flame Arrow. Even with the bright red light to help him, his eyes could not make out anything around him, and he was starting to feel tense.

Suddenly, he felt a hard kick to his back, lifting him off the ground, and sending him straight for one of the metal beams. Just before he would have slammed into the beam, he ignited Storm flames from his boots, halting his momentum, and allowing him to stay in the air. By now, he knew there was an enemy in here, who had most likely set off the smoke machine as a trap. If he or she thought this tactic would work as a suitable distraction from the assault on Jump City's prison, they were going to be disappointed. The other five titans would surely stop Cinderblock, and he would show this person how unlucky he was to have Storm as an opponent.

His eyes were finally starting top adjust to the darkness, and he saw something dart across the ground to his left. Without hesitation, he turned in the air and fired off a powerful Storm shot directly at the dark blur. The shot missed, but it did manage to illuminate enough of the person for Naruto to confirm it was a man.

"This distraction of yours wasn't thought out very well, was it?" Naruto taunted into the darkness. "The other titans are going to stop Cinderblock. The only one of us you managed to draw here is me."

"You misunderstand two very important things. _Cinderblock_ is the distraction. You see, I never intended to draw the _other_ titans here. My true target… is you."

Naruto narrowed his eyes as the man calmly walked towards him from the shadows. The closer the man got, the more of him Naruto's Storm flames illuminated. The man was decked in a black bodysuit that seemed to mold around him like a second skin. There were plates of gray armor around his neck and shoulders, on his arms, running up the front of his legs to cover his kneecaps, thighs and ankles, and finally around his midsection. Around his waist, was a matching gray belt with multiple pouches that almost reminded Naruto of Robin's utility belt. Running down from the man's right shoulder to his left hip, was a thin metal strap that Naruto believed might have been meant to carry a weapon on the man's back. Currently however, the man was unarmed as far as Naruto could see.

But the thing that caught Naruto's attention the most was the mask. It covered the entire head, and was split down the middle of the face, with each half a different color. The right side was black, like the rest of the man's suit, while the left side was a dark bronze color. There were four small slits at the bottom of the mask for the man to speak through, two on each half of the mask. Finally, the mask only had one eye hole, on the left side of the mask. The eye he could see, contained nothing but cold indifference, much like another man from his past, who viewed the world through a one-eyed mask. Just staring at that mask, brought flashes of his old life to the forefront of Naruto's mind, including the day he died.

Naruto did not feel the same mix of hatred and dread for this man as he did for Obito, but Naruto couldn't dismiss his gut feeling, that this man was highly dangerous and probably killed as easily as he breathed.

"Why target me? I've never even met you before." Naruto said.

"Oh, where are my manners?" The man asked mockingly. "You may call me Slade."

Slade. The name sounded so familiar to Naruto, but he didn't know why. A moment later it hit him. "You… you were the one who sent the Hive after us!"

"Correct," Slade confirmed. "I wanted to test the teen titans and for the most part, I was very impressed. In particular, you and Robin gave the best performances of the night."

"Then why are you targeting only _me_? And how did you even know I would be the one to show up?" Naruto demanded, his patience quickly fading from the unwavering calm and nonchalance Slade possessed.

"The answer is quite simple, young Storm." Slade replied. "Out of all the titans, you _alone_ could handle a threat without any support from the others. I counted on both you and Robin realizing this as well, resulting in five titans heading after Cinderblock, while you were sent to deal with the _minor_ threat. You have power, you have skill, but you don't use them. You are being held back, young Storm, by working _for_ the titans. Only the powerful are fit to lead, and yet you _allow yourself_ to be a follower. You could be so much more than you are."

"If you know how strong I am, then you should know you have no chance of winning against me!" Naruto boasted with a smirk.

"Don't flatter yourself." Slade chided. "I said you were the best among the teen titans. I didn't say you were a match for me. But eventually… you could be."

Naruto scoffed. "Is this the part where you say I can only reach my full potential by joining you? And that together we could do incredible things? Heard it before. Not interested."

Slade's one visible eye narrowed the slightest bit, in a way that made Naruto assume the man was now smirking behind that damned mask. "I'd be disappointed if you accepted my offer without some proof, young Storm. I suppose someone like you, would only see what I can do for you through force."

"I was wondering when we'd get to the fun part!" Naruto said, as he fired off nine crimson Storm shots in quick succession towards Slade.

Slade clasped his wrist behind his back, and simply leaned or tilted his body to either side with the least possible movement, returning to his original position after all nine shots had passed him by. "Not bad, but I know you can do better."

Naruto frowned as he loaded a fresh stick of dynamite into Flame Arrow. "Don't worry, we're just getting started!"

* * *

Raven raised a slab of solid concrete from the ground to block a punch from Cinderblock, but had to take flight when he barreled through it without pause. Cinderblock turned around to pursue her, but was distracted by the oncoming charge of Robin, Cyborg, and Starfire. Raising up his left arm, Cinderblock backhanded the two male titans away with the ease one might use in swatting a fly.

Starfire only managed to send a pair of starbolts into Cinderblock's face, before she was grabbed out of the air, Cinderblock's hands pinning her arms to her sides. "I am sorry to disappoint you, but I am stronger than I look." Starfire said with an innocent smile, just before bringing her right leg back and slamming it into Cinderblock's torso, not only freeing herself, but forcing her massive opponent into the already damaged wall of the prison.

Beast Boy, in the form of a forest green hawk circling overhead, shifted into a tyrannosaurus, and dropped to the ground directly in front of Cinderblock. With a loud roar, Beast Boy surged forward, intending to ram his diamond-hard skull into his opponent. However, just before he made contact, Beast Boy received a powerful left hook across the jaw, actually lifting his enormous form into the air.

"Azarath Metrion—" Raven's incantation was cut off as she saw a massive shadow descending upon her. She looked up and saw a green tyrannosaurus about to land atop her, though thankfully, Beast Boy was smart enough to revert back to his original human state just before crashing into her.

"Heh, watch out for falling green dinosaurs?" Beast Boy joked weakly.

Raven blew a strand of her violet hair out of her eyes and gave Beast Boy a cold stare in response.

"I'm gonna leave you alone now," Beast Boy said quickly, as he wisely hurried away from her and back towards the fight.

Cinderblock scowled was about to continue into the prison, when a pair of arms locked around his neck. Robin held on tightly, as Cinderblock turned and spun around rapidly, trying to throw the titan off.

"Thrashing only makes me hold on tighter!" Robin warned, readjusting his weakening grip to get a stronger hold.

Cinderblock eventually managed to catch his hand on one of the support beams embedded in the wall, and ripped it out, wielding it in his hands like a weapon. In one sudden movement, he attempted to slam the beam over his head and strike Robin, but the leader of the titans managed to leap off at the last second, resulting in Cinderblock giving himself a headache.

"Now there's an idea," Cyborg said with a grin, as he ripped out another support beam and ran towards Cinderblock. He raised the beam overhead, and swung it down towards Cinderblock, who blocked the strike against his own beam. Deafening metal clangs sounded throughout the room, as Cyborg and Cinderblock matched each other blow for blow, each trying to overpower the other in a battle of strength.

Cyborg brought his beam down in an attempt to deliver a powerful smash on Cinderblock, but was stopped, as Cinderblock held his own beam horizontally across his chest to block the strike. With one push, Cyborg was forced away from his opponent. Just as Cyborg was about to rush in and resume their bout, he saw Cinderblock already in mid-swing, the cement still attached to the metal beam striking directly against his chest, sending the half-metallic titan skidding across the ground in a shower of sparks.

Cinderblock turned to face his next opponent, Starfire, and readied the metal beam for an attack. However, a single highly-charged starbolt sailed straight into the metal beam, heating it up to the point, that it became molten red and bent in half. Cinderblock growled and tossed aside the now useless weapon, as he turned around and started running deeper into the facility, towards the cell blocks.

Cyborg glanced up at a green-gloved hand held out for him to take. He clasped his right hand in Robin's, and used it to pull himself up, brushing the pieces of broken cement off his body.

"Wanna give this guy the sonic boom?" Robin suggested.

Cyborg grinned, holding up his right arm, which instantly transformed into his signature sonic cannon. "I got the sonic, if you got the boom."

* * *

"Ugh!" Naruto released a grunt of pain, as he was forcefully slammed into a metal beam, an intense pain burning into his back at the point of impact. Slade, still gripping his right leg firmly, spun around and tossed Naruto away, the titan's body rolling across the ground, causing him more pain each time his back was so much as touched.

"Are you convinced yet, young Storm? Have I not proven that as you are now, you will only end up dead?" Slade called out to the bruised and beaten teen titan. Despite the blonde's best efforts, he had not managed to land a single hit on Slade in the last ten minutes. However, Slade was also aware, much to his annoyance, that Storm had not switched to any of his special shots yet. The boy had been firing nothing but regular shots at him this entire time.

Naruto, slowly and wincing the entire time, managed to stand himself up, though his back felt as if it was on fire. At the very _least_, it was going to be heavily bruised after this fight. If he had to judge based solely on the pain, he would have guessed that his spine had been knocked out of place. "Don't… don't make me laugh. You haven't seen anything yet!" He ignited his Sun ring and inserted it into its respective box, bringing out the Sun ammunition belt and inserting it into the sideways-facing skull at the rear of Flame Arrow.

"Bullets? I had thought heroes were above such ordinary methods." Slade said, with mocking boredom evident in his voice.

"These bullets are anything _but_ ordinary!" Naruto retorted, raising Flame Arrow and firing off thirty bullets in less than a second straight towards Slade.

Slade watched disinterestedly, as the bullets soared through the air, and was already preparing to dodge them all, when he noticed the same golden-yellow flame from Storm's ring, igniting around the bullets. They began accelerating in midair, and veered off into different trajectories, still heading in his general direction, but shifting at odd angles in random intervals. "Interesting. Your unique yellow flame has altered their trajectories and speed, to make them unpredictable and impossible to track through the air. However…"

Before Slade could finish his sentence, all thirty bullets converged around him, resulting in a loud explosion and concealed his form in a cloud of smoke. Naruto took to the air, easing the pain in his back slightly, as he could maneuver himself into a more comfortable position in the air than on the ground. He kept Flame Arrow trained on the cloud of smoke, wary of how much damage Slade actually received from his attack, if_ any_. As the smoke started dissipating, it was revealed that Slade was standing there completely unharmed, though he was now holding a large metal staff in his right hand.

"While your bullets are unpredictable and impossible to track in the air, they all eventually end up in the same location… and that _is_ predictable." Slade chided like a teacher lecturing a student, as he spun the staff around to rest against his back. "I've seen your bullets. I believe you have three more unique shots left."

Naruto grit his teeth angrily. Slade was looking down on him, the same way people like Mizuki and Ebisu had done when he was younger. As if he wasn't worth anyone's time… as if he was too weak to ever be a threat. He **hated** that. "I've got a better idea. I'm going to introduce you to a friend of mine. His name's Uri!"

Naruto practically slammed his lit Storm ring into a box on his right hip, releasing his animal type box weapon, Uri the Storm leopard. A bright ball of dark red Storm flames rocketed straight out of the opened box, and landed in front of Naruto, fading away to reveal Uri, currently as a leopard cub.

Uri was wearing a pair of orange-tinted sunglasses over his red eyes, with a metal X emblem, the same one held on Naruto's belt buckle, as the bridge connecting the two lenses. There were Storm flames coming out of Uri's ears, and blazing at the end of his tail. The same flame-emblazoned metal armor Naruto wore, was attached to the front of Uri's legs, just above his paws, with a circular metal bangle covering the joints where his legs connected to the body. Finally, there was a thick flame-emblazoned metal belt wrapped around Uri's midsection, with seven sticks of dynamite held in metal holsters, though the wicks were facing in the opposite direction.

"You intend to sick your pet kitten on me, young Storm?" Slade asked in amusement.

"Uri's not a kitten, he's a cub. A _leopard_ cub. And it's about time he had a growth spurt!" Naruto ejected the Sun ammunition belt from Flame Arrow, but kept the rear skull facing towards the right, rather than shift it back to its original position. Instead of opening a new box, Naruto inserted his lit Sun ring directly into Flame Arrow's rear skull, producing a bright yellow glow from within the entire cannon. He aimed Flame Arrow squarely at Uri's back, and fired out a beam of pure Sun flames at his partner.

Uri was enveloped in a blinding yellow light, as the Sun flames took effect. When the light died down, Uri was no longer just a cub. He was a full-grown, combat ready, Storm Leopard. Uri was now three meters long, not including the tail, and reached up to Naruto's elbow. Uri was still wearing sunglasses over his pure red eyes, and had powerful flames coming from his ears, the metal bangle on his four leg joints, and on the tip of his tail. Finally, the metal belt around Uri's midsection had expanded to meet the increased size of the leopard, now containing twenty sticks of dynamite.

Naruto rested his right hand atop Uri's head and gently scratched behind the leopard's ears, earning a deep purr of approval. "Uri is my partner, and my friend. And he's going to help me take you down."

Uri seemed to agree, if the powerful roar he released at Slade was any indication. At some unknown signal, Uri charged forward, the Storm flames on its legs flaring up and acting as propulsion to increase the leopard's running speed. In less than two seconds, Uri had crossed the forty meters between Naruto and Slade, and tackled the masked man to the ground. The only thing preventing Uri from ripping Slade's mask right off, was the metal staff he was using to hold the large cat back.

Uri raised one of his armored paws into the air, and slashed down at the staff. Storm flames, which had been coating the deadly claws, enabled Uri to completely slice through the staff like butter, leaving it in five separate pieces. Slade tossed aside the useless staff, and kicked out a foot against Uri's underside, sending the leopard flying off of him, and allowing him to get back up on his feet.

Uri used the propulsion from his Storm flames to flip himself about in the air, landing safely on his feet, unharmed. He then brought his tail up and swiped the lit tip across the wicks of six different sticks of dynamite held in the belt across his back.

Whatever Slade expected to happen, it wasn't for the six sticks of dynamite to come shooting out of the belt like rockets, flying straight towards him. He back flipped across the warehouse floor, watching as the dynamite kept exploding at his previous location until he was blown off his feet by a seventh stick. His body crashed painfully into a metal beam, which actually crumpled in slightly from the impact. As he pried himself out of the beam and glanced up, Slade saw Naruto in the air with his arm still poised to throw.

"You didn't forget about me did you?" Naruto taunted. Naruto loaded his Rain tube, and fired several shots of Rain-coated Storm flames into Slade's chest, each one forcing the masked man back several steps. The tranquility factor of the Rain flames weakened the durability of the, stronger-than-Kevlar, material Slade's black bodysuit was made of, while the disintegration factor of the Storm flames started breaking the armored suit apart at the targeted location.

Slade leapt into a sideways roll, avoiding the rest of the shots, but was struck by a claw swipe from Uri, sending his body rolling across the floor, much as he had done to Storm moments earlier. He stood up just in time to see Storm flying straight at him, right leg pulled back for a kick. "Foolish, young Storm. Very foolish. You had an edge in ranged combat, but when you begin to fight in close quarters, you tip the odds in my favor."

Slade lowered himself into a ready stance, ready to intercept and counter the kick from the titan. However, right when he was about to block and deflect a kick he expected to be swinging towards his head, Storm disappeared from his view. He heard a noise from behind him, and glanced over his shoulder. Storm was in the air behind him, his right leg swinging straight towards Slade's back. The only difference Slade noted, was that instead of the red flames Storm had been projecting as he flew over, there were now the bright yellow flames coming out of the metal boots, the same ones that had enhanced the titan's bullets.

The kick connected against his back, with far more force and speed than Slade would have expected from the boy. It actually lifted him off the ground and sent him flying towards the leopard, which leapt into the air and swiped its flame-covered claws against his already injured chest, halting his flight and dropping him to the ground with a loud thud.

"Tipping the odds in your favor? Don't flatter yourself." Naruto retorted, throwing Slade's own words back at him. "I switched my Storm flames to Sun flames right before I reached you, which accelerated my kick, and subsequently my body, enough to spin around your left side, leaving me perfectly positioned to strike your back. All your fighting skills mean nothing, if you can't keep up with me!"

Slade staggered back up to his feet, only for Naruto to appear directly in front of him, the same yellow flames already blasting out of his right foot, propelling his knee directly into Slade's gut, forcing the masked man to hunch over, releasing a grunt of pain. Naruto removed his knee from Slade's stomach and took a step back, readying his right arm as he began to build up Sun flames in the gauntlet's vent.

"Final…Impact!" Naruto's gauntlet accelerated forward, as the Sun flames were blasted out through the vent, sending the sharp metal spike directly into Slade's chest. Naruto's punch actually sent Slade straight through one of the solid metal beams, before being stopped by a second, though it bent so much from the impact, that the portion connected to the ceiling ripped free.

Naruto stalked up to Slade, Uri prowling alongside him, and crouched down to his defeated opponent. He reached his hand up and pulled the mask off to reveal Slade's identity, but was sadly disappointed. Behind the mask was not a face, but rather a video screen surrounded by metallic parts. "A fake…" Naruto said through gritted teeth.

The screen switched on, revealing Slade sitting on a makeshift throne, with his interlocked fingers supporting his chin. Naruto couldn't discern Slade's possible whereabouts from such a small display, but he saw something large spinning in the background, partially hidden in the shadows. "Correct. Another test of your skills, you might say."

Naruto clenched his fist tightly, turning his knuckles white. "Coward! Can't even fight me yourself?"

Slade held up one hand to placate the furious titan. "Patience, young Storm. We will meet face to face… eventually. I had to see if you were even worth my time and effort first. And I must say, you passed with flying colors. That last punch of yours… you intended for that attack to be lethal. You wanted to kill me." Slade accused.

"I didn't make it more powerful just for your sake, Slade." Naruto spat out coldly. "What you see is what you get. Every time. Either you're saying I'm stronger than even _you_ expected, or you're calling yourself weaker than me. I'd settle for either one."

Slade's visible eye narrowed, and this time Naruto _knew_ it wasn't because the man was smirking. This time he'd hit a nerve. "Don't get cocky, young Storm. You and I will meet in combat one day, and I force you to see how much farther you can go. Until then, I've left you a little parting gift… to remember me by."

The screen instantly shut off and Naruto heard explosions, occurring simultaneously around the perimeter of the warehouse. "He's bringing the warehouse down on me! Uri, get to the exit!" Naruto took to the air, just as the support beams holding up the roof began breaking apart and falling to the ground around him. Uri was already running for the doors, as Naruto started flying after him. His fight with Slade's robot had taken him to the far side of the warehouse, completely on the other side from the doors, and he had to wonder if that had been somehow planned.

Naruto twisted and weaved through the air, avoiding falling pieces of debris, his eyes firmly focusing on the warehouse doors. He saw a portion of the metal ceiling falling straight towards him, and performed a sideways roll to avoid getting squished, but let out a groan of pain as his back protested the sudden motion.

In his momentary lapse of concentration, Naruto missed the support beam, which had been holding up that part of the roof, slam down into his back, sending him to the ground. The resulting pain was so intense, that Naruto blacked out before his body had even hit the ground, and was thus unable to see the entire building collapse around him.

* * *

"Yo, rockhead!"

Cinderblock stopped his run towards the cell blocks and turned around, seeing Robin and Cyborg sprinting towards him determinedly.

The two titans ran up the corridor walls and were upside-down in the air, Cyborg readying a sonic blast, while Robin was preparing to throw an explosive disk. However, their feet caught on each others, sending the two titans spinning around in midair, before they were forcefully separated and thrown into the corridor walls on opposite sides. Cyborg's sonic canon fired straight at Beast Boy and Starfire, blasting them off their feet, while Robin released the explosive disk in Raven's direction, though she managed to shield herself from the explosion with dark energy.

Cinderblock gave what passed for a smirk from him, and started heading towards his goal once more. However, instead of just heading through the corridors, he smashed through the cell block walls, allowing him to reach his target faster, while also providing a distraction for the titans pursuing him.

"Hey, hey… look at this!"

"It's freedom!"

"Let's get out of here!"

The multitude of orange-jumpsuit wearing prisoners began running out through the holes in their cells Cinderblock had made, and ran right into the teen titans as they rounded the corner.

Robin frowned in frustration. This was exactly what he'd been worried would happen. Where was Naruto? For now, they had to focus on recapturing the prisoners, and hope Cinderblock was still here to be stopped afterwards . "Titans, go!"

* * *

Cinderblock already heard the sounds of battle behind him, and knew the titans were being kept busy and away from him. He finally made it to his target in the far back of the facility.

**PRISONER**

**385901**

**ABSOLUTE SILENCE!**

With one strong punch, Cinderblock knocked the sturdy double doors down, and walked into the quiet and serene room designed specifically for this one prisoner. The room was circular, and the walls contained large video screens, projecting calming blue patterns meant to resemble the ocean. There was even soft, peaceful music projected into the room through speakers in the ceiling.

In the center of the room was the prisoner, Otto Von Furth, contained in a soundproof stasis tank filled with water. Cinderblock grabbed the tank and ripped it free from its supports, sending the water cables flying around and releasing water all over the floor, until the flow automatically stopped when the system no longer detected a living being held in stasis.

Cinderblock punched a hole straight into the ground, and jumped through with the tube. He'd have to travel beneath the prison to avoid further notice from the titans, but at least he'd completed his mission.

* * *

Robin and the other titans watched as the recaptured prisoners were led back into their cells by the armed prison guards. Robin pitied them. They'd have quite a few long nights ahead, watching over the prisoners personally until the damaged cells could be rebuilt. Normally he'd offer the titans' aid, but with Cinderblock still on the loose, and another highly dangerous prisoner now missing, they had too much on their plates to undertake any other assignments.

"Jailbreak? I don't see any jailbreak." Beast Boy joked.

"None of us would've seen one if _Cyborg_ hadn't messed up." Robin said irritably, crossing his arms and refusing to look at said titan.

"Me?!" Cyborg asked incredibly. "I messed up nothing! _You_ got in my way!"

"_You_ were too far forward, and Cinderblock got away because of it!" Robin retorted.

"You saying this is _my_ fault?!" Cyborg yelled back.

"Want me to say it again?" Robin challenged, standing up and meeting into Cyborg's eyes with his own. One could almost see lightning sparking between their heated glares.

"Stop!" Starfire cut in, setting a hand on their shoulders and gently pushing them back. "No more mean talking."

Robin and Cyborg both stubbornly turned their backs on the other in response.

"Yeah, if you two are gonna fight, we need time to sell tickets!" Beast Boy quipped in an attempt to break the tension.

"Cinderblock escaped. No amount of yelling will change that. So stop acting like idiots. Naruto hasn't arrived or checked in yet. If he needs our help, your petty squabble will only get in the way." Raven said a bit more fiercely than she had intended. It wasn't like Naruto to forget a progress report, and she knew that if he _really_ needed help, he would have called it in. She was getting a bad feeling, and she wanted to go find out why. Immediately.

But Raven was underestimating how stubborn Robin and Cyborg could be. They gave each other one last glare, before storming off in opposite directions.

"Loser," Robin whispered.

"Jerk," Cyborg muttered.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!" They demanded, as they suddenly stopped and turned around, walking back until they were standing face to face.

"Do you have a problem, tin man?" Robin threatened.

"Yeah. It's four feet tall, and smells like cheap hair gel!" Cyborg insulted, knowing how much Robin hated it when people made fun of either his height or his hair. The fact that he had just hit both sore spots, resulted in the extremely furious look on Robin's face, and was the reason why Cyborg was smiling victoriously.

"Well, you're an over-sized klutz, and your feet smell like motor oil!" Robin mocked in return.

"You're bossy, you're rude, you got no taste in music—" Cyborg listed off on his fingers.

"I don't even know why you're on this team!" Robin blurted out.

"That makes two of us! I quit!" Cyborg shouted in Robin's face, producing disbelieving looks from the other four titans, as he stalked off angrily.

Raven, Beast Boy, and Starfire all looked at Robin, and the boy wonder could do nothing but look down in shame. "Raven, weren't you saying something about Naruto?" Robin asked, in a very obvious and desperate attempt to change the subject.

Raven nodded and checked her communicator. "I'm not getting a signal from him, but his last transmitted coordinates were from the warehouses down by the city's docks."

Robin nodded decisively. "That means his communicator's been destroyed. We'll head down and—"

"**I'll** head down and check on him. You three get back to the tower." Raven said, leaving no room for argument, as she sunk into the ground and used her dark energy to transport herself across the city.

* * *

Cinderblock walked across the dark room, the loud rumbling and whirring of machines filling the air. He stopped in a bright spotlight, just in front of the stairs leading up to Slade's seat, and set the stasis tank down.

"Cinderblock… I see your mission was a success. Good." Slade praised, though his tone of voice indicated he expected no other result. "We will proceed with phase two. Wake him."

Cinderblock gripped the tank and wrapped one arm around the seal on top keeping Otto in stasis. After several seconds, Cinderblock finally managed to crack the seal, allowing steam to escape from the lid as the pressure was released.

Otto Von Furth opened his eyes for the first time in nearly two years. And panicked. "I'm… awake? I should _never_ be awake! I'm only human when I'm sleeping!" He exclaimed desperately.

"But for what I have in mind, your human form is useless. I need Plasmus," Slade said mercilessly.

Otto Von Furth began to grown and expand, his skin stretching abnormally. It wasn't long before he was unrecognizable as a human, and even less time than that, until his body filled up the entire tank. The glass began to crack as its limits were broken by the constantly expanding mass inside, until it finally shattered, leaving a pile of purple ooze on the mess of glass shards.

The pile of purple ooze began growing and molding, until it resembled a humanoid form as large as Cinderblock with glowing green eyes. It stepped into the spotlight and released a series of roars and growls that, naturally, sounded distorted due to the amount of wet ooze coating the vocal chords.

Slade looked on calmly, but his thoughts were focused on the recorded fight with Storm. So much potential unrealized, oh how he desired to be the one to mold the boy into the perfect apprentice.

An heir.

But he had to be fair. There was still one candidate left to test. Unfortunately, it would have to wait for another day. Other things had to be accomplished first.

"Plasmus… you know what to do."

* * *

Raven emerged from the ground just outside the dock warehouses and gasped. The building directly in front of her had been completely destroyed. It was in ruins, and the entire thing had collapsed to the ground. "No…" she breathed out.

She flew over to the rubble and began lifting and tossing aside pieces of destroyed metal, hoping to find Naruto still alive somewhere underneath this mess. "Storm! Storm, can you hear me?" She was starting to believe the worst, and as a result of her fear going unchecked, an entire pile of the warehouse remains were blasted straight into the air, falling into the ocean with a massive splash.

However, it revealed what she was looking for. There, sticking out from beneath a fractured metal beam, was the silver gauntlet that covered Naruto's right arm.

Raven wanted to sigh in relief, but she still wasn't sure if he was alive. Her empathy couldn't pick up emotions from people who were dead or unconscious, which unfortunately meant Naruto could be either right now. She cautiously flew over towards his body, but retreated when a glowing red claw swiped through the air where her head had been.

She followed the claw to its owner and blinked in shock. She was looking at a leopard. In sunglasses. "Well I know who you belong to," she muttered. The leopard was growling at her, crouched down as if ready to leap and tackle her out of the air. She quickly realized she had to convince it she was Naruto's friend and only here to help.

"Easy boy… I'm a friend of Na—Storm." Raven said with her hands held up cautiously, having to correct herself on Naruto's hero name again, due to the fact that she had a very dangerous leopard staring directly into her eyes. It hadn't lowered its guard for a second. In any other situation, she'd be impressed that Naruto had such a loyal companion, but not now, when his life was in danger. "He's hurt, and I just want to take him back to the tower. I want to _help_ him. I _can_ help him. If you don't let me get him out of here, his injuries might get worse, and he could die. Please…"

For a moment, the leopard didn't move, and Raven feared she might have to subdue the animal before she could get to Naruto. But her fears were for naught, as the leopard lowered its guard and stepped aside, allowing her access to Naruto. She gave it a nod of appreciation, before flying over and magically lifting the metal beam off of Naruto.

The sight that awaited her, nearly made her sick. Naruto's body had obviously taken quite the punishment, leaving him bruised and bloody in the worst possible way. Visually, at least. She couldn't determine the extent of his injuries on sight alone. However a quick finger press against his neck at least confirmed he was alive. "That's just like you, Storm. Out cold, and you _still_ won't let yourself be beaten. Not even by death." Raven gently lifted Naruto's left arm, draping it around her shoulders, and allowed herself a slight smile, when the leopard padded over and carefully forced its body beneath Naruto's right arm.

She lowered the three of them into the ground, transporting them back to the tower. She had to get Naruto to the infirmary immediately.

* * *

"_This is Cyborg. I'm either in the gym, playing gamestation, or kicking bad guy butt. Leave a message." _

"Hello? Cy? Pick up!" Beast Boy yelled through the phone. "Come on Cy, pick up! I know you're there, the phone's built into your arm!" Beast Boy finally realized, after eleven calls, that Cyborg wasn't going to answer them or call back, and hung up. He recoiled in shock when Starfire suddenly appeared in front of him, holding up a wooden spoon and bowl filled with what looked like oatmeal.

"Taste." Starfire said, and all but shoved the wooden spoon into his mouth.

"Blah!" The taste was horrendous, and Beast Boy felt like all his taste buds were being murdered. He crouched down on the ground and spat out the foul mixture onto the carpet, after which he started scraping the remains off his tongue. "What _is_ that? Cream of toenails?" Beast Boy finally managed to ask, after he was sure his mouth was devoid of that disgusting substance.

"Pudding of Sadness," Starfire answered. "It is what the people of my planet eat when bad things happen." She took a spoonful of the pudding and ate it herself. However, it seemed as if even Starfire had problems with the taste, judging from the tortured facial expression she produced. Eventually she managed to swallow it down, but then the aftertaste hit her, and sent shivers up her spine.

Starfire took the pudding and flew to the infirmary, where she found Raven still working on healing Naruto, her white-glowing hands running up and down along Naruto's bare back. The sight was horrendous. Nearly the entire surface was black or purple, showing how much punishment Naruto's back had received in such a short amount of time. To have had an entire building collapse down upon him and survive? Starfire still remembered Tamaranean warriors who would not be able to endure so much and live. Truly, her friend Naruto was one of the strongest people she had ever met.

"Raven, would you care to try the Pudding of Sadness? The displeasing taste will ease your troubled mind." Starfire suggested, holding out the bowl to her friend.

Raven paused in her healing and was about to refute Starfire's assumption that her mind was troubled, but found she couldn't. Starfire was right. "No offense Starfire, but the only thing that will help my troubled mind, is making sure Naruto gets healed. Finding the one who did this, and releasing some stress on them, wouldn't hurt either."

Starfire opened her mouth to speak, but closed it and nodded understandingly, leaving Raven to her work.

Raven sighed. She'd brought Naruto back to the tower nearly three hours ago, and had rushed to the infirmary as soon as her feet hit the ground. The leopard, presumably recognizing the home of its master, returned back to a box hanging from Naruto's hip as soon as she laid the blonde down in one of the infirmary's beds. She had been working on healing his injuries ever since.

The first thing she had done, was take care of the large gash across his side, that had been bleeding, followed by repairing the broken or cracked ribs in his chest. From there, she had healed up all the minor cuts and bruises she could find, before proceeding to the area she knew would have suffered the most. His back.

The other injuries had taken her less than a full hour to treat, but with two hours of work into his back, Raven had only managed to reduce the bruising slightly and stop the swelling. She was exhausted and drained, and knew that continuing on any more today would only end up badly for her.

Almost as soon as she pulled the blankets over him, did Naruto start blinking his eyes open and stare into hers. "Naruto. How are you feeling?"

Naruto groaned and shifted in the bed slightly, but to Raven's relief, did not roll over and simply remained lying on his stomach. "Like I had a building fall on me. Actually, it's little less painful now."

Raven nodded. "Good. Most of your injuries are gone, but the most I could do for your back was ease the pain and prevent any swelling. It'll be a couple of days, probably closer to a week, before you can fight again."

"A week?" Naruto asked in shock. "I can't be out for that long! What if you guys need help? What if someone gets hurt because I wasn't there?"

"What if _you_ get hurt _worse _because you were there?" Raven countered calmly. "I'll be able to continue healing you starting tomorrow, but until I say so, you're grounded. We'll manage without you for a while. Just focus of getting some rest and recovering your strength."

"But I—" Whatever protest Naruto was about to offer, died in his throat at the deadly serious glare from Raven. "You know what? I-I think some R&R might be good!" Naruto said hastily, as he struggled to maintain eye contact with Raven, who was really starting to scare him.

"That's what I thought," Raven said, with a self-satisfied smirk. "So, who were you fighting just before the warehouse came down on you?"

Naruto paused and had to prevent a scowl from forming on his face. "Slade, the guy who sent the Hive after us. Or at least a robot double. He didn't have the courage to face me himself, and when I won, he blew up the warehouse with me still inside."

"We'll get him eventually, Naruto." Raven promised. "Slade can't hide forever."

* * *

Robin set his hands on his knees and started panting, sweat dripping down his face from the intense session he had just put himself through, working on the sandbag. He glanced up and stared at the weight bench, where the bar was still loaded up to Cyborg's preference.

He left the gym, passing by the infirmary, where he heard Raven and Naruto talking as if nothing was wrong. He'd heard what happened briefly, but Raven hadn't allowed any of the other titans in to see Naruto while she was treating him. Since Starfire had just come from there not too long ago, he assumed it was okay to visit now. But Naruto and Raven seemed to be helping each other right now, and he didn't want to intrude.

He walked into the living room and saw Beast Boy loading up a pile of dirty dishes onto the counter alongside all the others.

"Yo! Whose turn to do dishes?" Beast Boy asked.

"Cyborg," Robin stated as he walked up to the sink and began cleaning the dishes methodically. The repetitiveness of the task, helped calm him down slightly, but also reminded him that he was the reason Cyborg had quit. He was thankful when Beast Boy left him alone to the dishes, as it was much more calming to be alone right now.

When he finally finished he sat himself down on the couch and began playing on the gamestation. He eventually managed to relax and lose himself in the game. He was on such a roll, that he actually had a chance of setting the new record. "Come on… almost… got it! Yes! New high score!" Robin grinned as Cyborg's name, and his score of 1,000,000 points were crushed, and replaced by Robin's name and new score of 5,000,000 points.

That was until Robin realized without Cyborg here, beating his high score didn't feel like a true accomplishment. Normally Cyborg would be here denying such a result was impossible, calling him a cheater, and boasting that score wouldn't be up there for much longer.

He tossed down the controller and headed to Cyborg's room, opening the door and gazing solemnly at the empty living quarters. Because of Cyborg's unique circumstances, his room was always the one that _already_ seemed the most empty and devoid of life. With Cyborg gone, the feeling was much worse. Robin picked up a framed picture of the two of them smiling that Beast Boy had taken, after they had beaten the so-called unbeatable duo in an online game of Ninja Masters III.

"I'm sorry…" Robin apologized, wishing his friend were here so he could say it in person. Suddenly the alarm began blaring through out the tower, alerting them of an attack in the city. He set the picture down carefully and ran back to the living room, where Beast Boy, Starfire and Raven had already overlaid a digital map of the city on the main window. "Cinderblock strikes again?"

"You wish…" Beast Boy muttered.

* * *

Plasmus stood in front of a conveyer belt, picking up and swallowing the barrels of chemical waste being transported, and growing larger with each one he consumed. He picked up another and began gulping down the contents, only to have the bottom of the barrel blasted open by a bright green starbolt, spilling the waste across the floor. Plasmus looked through the barrel like a telescope, spotting the teen titans at the hole he'd made in the wall of the chemical waste plant.

"That stuff can't be good for you," Robin said.

Plasmus tossed aside the barrel and let out a loud belch in response.

"Nice one." Beast Boy complimented with a grin.

Plasmus released four shots of the sludge that comprised his body at the titans, only for the four of them to dodge and surround him. He began tracking Robin and constantly fired sludge from his chest, but Robin was swift on his feet and avoided them all.

"Star, let him have it!" Robin ordered, as he leapt up onto a wooden crate to avoid another shot of the sludge.

Starfire sent a powerful starbolt straight into Plasmus' chest, blowing a wide hole straight through his body that the titans could see through. "Did I let him have too much?" She asked innocently.

Plasmus sucked in a large breath, as the hole sealed up, leaving him no worse for wear.

"I'm thinking not enough." Beast Boy replied.

Plasmus extended his left arm into the air, attempting to grab Starfire, but Raven managed to pull the girl out of the way just in time. "Maybe he just needs to chill," Robin said, as he pulled out a cryo disk from his belt and tossed it straight at the still extended arm, freezing it all the way up to the shoulder.

Plasmus glanced at his frozen arm and roared as he smashed the appendage against the pipes overhead, shattering it into icicle shards, leaving him with only one arm for the moment. Starfire flew in and began sending a barrage of starbolts at Plasmus, though having little effect on him. Beast Boy shape changed into a pteranodon and began kicking out his legs rapidly at his opponent, who managed to block each kick with his one remaining arm. Plasmus then regenerated his left arm, as he extended it out to try and capture both Starfire and Beast Boy.

The arm began splitting apart into multiple limbs, forcing Starfire to constantly blast them apart while flying backwards out of their reach, as Beast Boy did not have such offensive capabilities in his flying form.

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" Raven levitated into the air, projecting out a wave of her soul-self that lifted up a dozen empty barrels, and sent them shooting into Plasmus' chest, where they all ended up stuck. Plasmus pulled his arms back and shot the barrels back out at Raven, who only just managed to avoid them all.

Robin leapt off a stack of boxes and slammed his foot into Plasmus' chest, but found out the hard way that it was completely ineffective. As he tried to pry his leg free from the thick disgusting sludge, he wound up getting his other leg and both hands stuck when he tried to kick and punch his opponent further. "Argh! Come on! Let me go you giant zit!"

Plasmus looked down at the titan stuck in his chest, and with a loud screech, expelled Robin forcefully in a blast of sludge, which also crashed into Beast Boy like a tidal wave.

"Robin!" Starfire called, running over to her friend.

"Ah, I'm okay. Sort of," Robin reassured her, as he slowly got up, having to spit out a glob of the sludge first.

Beast Boy sat up and had his tongue hanging out, having just spit out a larger quantity than Robin. "And I thought Star's pudding tasted bad."

* * *

"Disappointing," Slade muttered, as he watched a live feed of Plasmus roaring from the hacked security cameras at the chemical waste plant. "With two titans missing, this is almost too easy. I was expecting more of a challenge. Cinderblock…begin phase 3."

Cinderblock, carrying an armful of equipment, growled an affirmative and left the room to complete his task.

* * *

Naruto, who had only just started to drift asleep, was suddenly awoken by the alarm blaring through the tower a second time. He grabbed the replacement communicator Raven had left on the bedside table before she left, and checked the location of the newest alert. According to the digital map, the newest alert was occurring downtown, while the other titans were approximately eleven miles away fighting Plasmus.

"Probably Slade again… damn it." Naruto stared at the blinking red dot marked at downtown Jump City and then at the four blue dots marked as the other titans on the eastern part of the city. Wait, four? Where was the last titan? Then he spotted the fifth blue dot heading downtown. "Ah, crap. If this is another trap, whoever that is might end up like me… or worse." Naruto bit his lip as he contemplated going to help. On one hand, that lone titan might need some backup. On the other hand, Raven would be _beyond_ furious that he had disobeyed her and left while _seriously_ injured.

She had even taken the time to wrap his entire back in bandages, something he doubted she would have normally done unless she expected her order to be followed. It didn't take him too long to reach a decision. "No choice. I've got to help." Naruto slowly sat up, feeling a twinge of pain in his back with every movement. He grabbed his jacket, foregoing the shirt for time and effort it would take to slip the damn thing on, and flew out the infirmary's window.

* * *

Cinderblock had just finished setting up the equipment when he received a blast to the back. He turned around and saw Cyborg with his sonic cannon still extended and aiming straight for him.

"I have had more than enough of you for one day, blockhead. I got a _lot_ of stress to let out, and you just volunteered to help."

Cinderblock turned around and ran straight for Cyborg, shoulder-tackling him into a tree, completely uprooting it. He raised his right foot, preparing to stomp down on Cyborg's chest, but the metallic titan rolled to the left, avoiding the attack, and fired a blast from his sonic cannon straight into Cinderblock's face, sending the concrete being stumbling back.

Cyborg jumped back up to his feet and delivered an uppercut to Cinderblock, followed by a haymaker and three jabs straight to, what would be, the stomach if Cinderblock had one. He was about to finish with a right cross, when he was backhanded into a parked car, setting off the deafening alarm.

Cinderblock composed himself from Cyborg's onslaught of attacks, and lifted up another car, walking forward slowly in preparation to slam it down on the titan. As he lifted the car up higher, he was shot in the chest by a red beam of light, forcing him to drop the car and stumble back.

Cyborg glanced up and saw Naruto hovering in the air above him, his red and black jacket worn over his heavily bandaged bare chest. "Woah, Storm you look like crap, man. What happened to you?"

"Had a building blown up on me." Naruto answered shortly, starting to get annoyed at being reminded of the incident. "Though that's probably nothing compared to what _Raven_ will do, when she finds out I left the infirmary after she ordered me not fight for a week."

Cyborg actually winced in pity for his fellow titan. Naruto was as good as dead. "Well, so long as you're gonna be murdered before the night is over, mind helping me take down this guy first?"

"I can _feel_ the support and understanding coming from you, Cyborg." Naruto muttered sarcastically as he ejected the stick of dynamite in Flame Arrow and replaced it with the rain tube.

* * *

Plasmus fired off more sludge from his chest, catching both Raven and Starfire and sending them to the ground, in a pile of the thick goop. Starfire emerged from the pile, sludge still dripping down her hair. "I feel like the underside of a Zornian muck beetle."

"Tell me about it…" Raven muttered, as she too emerged from the sludge, clumps of Plasmus clinging to her hair.

"Dude, I am _not_ on the menu!" Beast Boy yelled as he ran away from Plasmus, who was chasing him across the plant. Plasmus was forced to halt, when Robin's birdarang wrapped around his legs.

"Maybe the best way to take you down… is to tie you up!" Robin said, running in circles around Plasmus, wrapping the birdarang's cable higher and higher up Plasmus' body. Once Robin finished, Beast Boy transformed into a rhino and charged the tied up Plasmus, knocking flat on the ground, where Raven and Starfire bent metal beams down to pin him to the ground.

"We did it!" Starfire exclaimed, as the four of them looked down at their trapped opponent, roaring as he struggled to break free.

"Nice work, team!" Robin praised.

"Yeah, didn't think we'd pull it off without Storm or—" Raven shut Beast Boy up by smacking her hand against the back of his head. Hard.

Robin checked his communicator, now able to hear the beeping since things had calmed down here. "We finished just in time. Cinderblock's been spotted downtown, along with—"

He paused and turned back towards Plasmus, whose body was starting to shift and dissolve beneath the improvised restraints. What was once one large opponent, split apart into five smaller opponents, shaped like various creatures. The five sludge creatures began running towards the titans, who ran back out through the main doors and closed it behind them.

All four of them pressed against the steel doors, trying to keep them shut, but Plasmus' forms were pounding against the other side relentlessly. "Four against five… not good odds." Beast Boy said worriedly.

"Forget the odds, we need a plan." Robin stated.

The pounding got stronger, until two long tentacles made of sludge slipped through, whipping around in the air dangerously.

"Titans, separate!" Robin ordered, as the four of them broke away from the door at once and ran off in different directions of the plant.

* * *

Naruto ducked beneath another thrown car, and fired another Rain shot into Cinderblock's chest, at the exact same spot the last five had landed. His tranquility factor was weakening the cement, and a large crack was growing on Cinderblock's chest as Naruto landed more and more shots at that location. "Cyborg, hit him again!"

Cyborg nodded and aimed his sonic cannon at the growing vulnerable target on their opponent's chest. He waited until Cinderblock pulled his arm back to throw another car, and fired a sonic blast straight into his target. The weakened cement gave way, and Cyborg managed to blast a hole straight through Cinderblock, leaving a fist-sized hole straight through the body. "Booyah!"

But if he expected that to be enough to take Cinderblock down, then Cyborg was going to be disappointed, as the car meant for Naruto, instead sailed straight into him. Even with a gaping hole in his chest, Cinderblock was continuing to fight as if it wasn't there. "Yo Storm! We need a new plan!"

Naruto pulled out five sticks of dynamite and ignited the fuses with bright red Storm flames. "Says you! I say, work off the old plan!" He then threw all five sticks of dynamite into the gaping hole, watching as they detonated inside Cinderblock's body, forcefully blowing open the wound, and making it larger. A basketball could easily travel through that wound now.

Cinderblock was finally starting to show signs of being affected by the damage to his body, as he began stumbling around the area unstably, almost as if he were drunk. Cyborg took this opportunity to rip apart the machine Cinderblock had been setting up, and bent the parts around him until they successfully restrained him. With one kick to the chest, Cinderblock was lying on the ground, unable to move or attack any further.

Naruto landed down beside Cyborg, and had to catch his breath. Oh how he missed that rapid healing he used to have. Was this what other shinobi felt like when fighting injured? Because at this particular moment, he couldn't think of anything that sucked more. "Well, that's one problem done. No offense intended Cyborg, but why did the other titans send you specifically to handle Cinderblock?"

Cyborg raised an eyebrow in confusion. The answer should have been obvious, until he realized Naruto probably hadn't heard, likely having been cooped up in the infirmary the whole time. "I uh, had a little fight with Robin at the prison, and well… kinda quit the team."

Naruto blinked slowly, processing what he'd just heard. He knew he should have been more shocked, but he was in too much pain. "And what do you plan on doing now?"

Cyborg glanced from Naruto, to the captured Cinderblock, and back again. "Well, quitting the team was a spur of the moment thing. It was stupid, and I regret it. The way I see it, the only way Robin will accept my apology and let me back on the team… is if I bring him a nice present, all wrapped up."

Naruto chuckled and shook his head in amusement. "I could see that working. One way to find out right?" He asked, holding up the communicator, showing the other titans' location remained unchanged.

* * *

Robin ran though one of the paths in the plant, lined on either side by large machines all designed around the goal of eliminating toxic material. He heard the gurgling of the Plasmus form behind him, shaped like some sort of six-legged crab claw. He barreled through a set of doors and fell ten feet, landing on a moving conveyer belt.

He shook his head and glanced around, spotting enormous vats of toxic waste beneath him. The Plasmus form landed on the conveyer belt behind him, forcing him to spin around suddenly to deal with the threat. Robin brought out his bo-staff and extended it to its full length, swiping it through the large pincers on the creature, before stabbing it into the body multiple times. However, no matter what he did, the thing always regenerated, rendering Robin's attacks futile.

It caught one end of Robin's staff between its pincers, and snapped it off. Robin merely smirked and spun the broken staff around in his hands, extending it out from the other side. He brought his arm back and swung the staff towards the creature in a powerful backhand smash, only for the staff to be knocked out of his hands and into one of the vats below.

* * *

Starfire felt the snake-like sludge creature constricting around her tighter with each second. She built up the energy within her body and released it in a bright green orb, blowing the snake apart, and freeing herself. Suddenly, she heard more gurgling coming from above her and spun around sharply. There, resting atop one of the machines, was the main portion of Plasmus, with the glowing green eyes as proof.

The other two captured titans were brought into the area by Plasmus' other forms, all having significantly more difficulty escaping than her. To make matters worse, the snake began reforming and advancing on her once more. She began backing up, until she felt her back press against one of the machines, leaving her nowhere left to retreat. She couldn't risk attacking the forms holding Beast Boy and Raven, for fear of accidentally harming them. And each time she tried to throw a starbolt at the snake form, it used its lithe body to avoid each attack.

The main body of Plasmus let out a commanding roar, presumably giving the order to attack.

The snake form launched forward towards Starfire, but was shot through the head by a blue and red beam. Starfire looked up and saw Naruto in the air taking aim at the other forms. With two quick shots, both Raven and Beast Boy were free as well.

"Figured you guys could use some help!" Naruto called out, turning to fire three quick shots into the main body, blowing it to pieces on the ground. They were beginning to reform, but drastically slower than before, as Naruto's tranquility shots were slowing down Plasmus' regenerative abilities.

"You're supposed to be in bed, recovering. I _thought_ I said no fighting for a week," Raven bit out calmly, the underlying threat clear as day in her voice.

"Yeah well, what kind of friend would I be if I let you guys get hurt while I was lying in bed bore—I mean resting?" Naruto asked sheepishly.

Raven narrowed her eyes, catching the slip-up, and brought a machine crashing down on Plasmus with a wave of her hand. "We'll be talking about this later, Storm."

Beast Boy glanced up at his friend and shook his head. "Dude, you're _so_ dead."

"I know." Naruto said, as he hung his head in defeat.

* * *

Robin backed up as the creature steadily advanced on him. And yet, he was caught off guard when it suddenly pounced on him, attempting to crush his head between the pincers. It was taking all of Robin's strength to fight the thing off. The conveyer belt was reaching the end of the line, and Robin could see a vat filled with glowing green chemical waste over the edge. With a kick to the creature's body, he flipped the both of them over, but managed to catch his hand on the side of the conveyer belt just in time.

The creature had its pincers gripping onto Robin's right leg though, and wasn't about to let go anytime soon. The conveyer belt couldn't handle their combined weight, and the metal Robin was gripping snapped off, sending them both falling. The creature lost its grip on Robin's leg and dropped into the chemical waste, dissolving almost instantly, while a familiar hand grabbed Robin's just in time.

Robin was pulled up by Cyborg and set down on the, no longer moving, conveyer belt, allowing him to catch his breath. For a second there, he actually believed that was the end for him.

"I still got the sonic, if you still got the boom."

Robin glanced up and smirked.

The two of them ran back the way they came, spotting the other four titans on one side of the room, with the four remaining portions of Plasmus on the other. "Teen titans, go!" They called out together, with Cyborg running up one wall, and Robin up the other. This time, they were in perfect harmony, as Robin threw his explosive disk, and Cyborg blasted it with his sonic cannon.

The disk was destroyed within the beam, the explosion boosting the power of the sonic blast as it hit the main Plasmus dead on. The impact resulted in a bright flash of light, which faded away to reveal the sleeping body of Otto Von Furth.

* * *

The Jump City prison had been called in, and soon, Otto Von Furth was once again contained in a soundproof stasis chamber, being loaded into the back of a prison transport truck.

"Look… sorry about—."

"Yeah." Cyborg interrupted.

"So… are we cool?" Robin asked hesitantly.

Cyborg smiled and held out his fist. "Frosty."

Robin smiled, very much relieved, and bumped his fist both above and below Cyborg's, effectively signaling the renewal of their friendship.

"You made up! Glorious!" Starfire exclaimed cheerfully. "I wish to initiate a group hug!"

"Yeah… my back _definitely_ can't take one of those right now, Star." Naruto said, happy to have a legitimate excuse for avoiding one of those.

"Yeah… about that." Raven walked over to Naruto and yanked him down by the ear. "You're going back to the infirmary, and you're not leaving again until I approve. With all the fighting you've done tonight, you'll be lucky to get out by the end of the month."

"What! I didn't even get hit _once_ tonight!" Naruto protested.

Raven narrowed her eyes and turned towards Starfire. "Starfire, the only thing Naruto can eat while injured, is your Pudding of Sadness. Understand?"

"I shall begin cultivating the fungus at once!" Starfire said, eager to do her part in taking care of her friend, receiving a horrified look from Naruto at the word 'fungus'.

"Yeah, yeah warm fuzzies and Naruto's suffering aside, we still got to stop Cinderblock!" Beast Boy exclaimed.

"No we don't." Robin and Cyborg answered simultaneously.

"I saw both Cyborg's and Storm's communicator signals coming from downtown, where Cinderblock was spotted. For them to show up here, I figured they must have already won." Robin explained.

"Yeah, thought I'd bring a present, in case you were still mad." Cyborg gestured with his thumb to the still restrained form of Cinderblock with a gaping hole straight through his chest.

Robin whistled in appreciation. "Pretty impressive. You do that?"

"Not alone," Cyborg denied. "Storm had to weaken him first."

"So, what does that thing you bent around him actually do, Cyborg?" Naruto asked in curiosity.

"It's supposed to run high amounts of electricity through an object. I don't know what that has to do with Cinderblock being outside the Wayne Enterprises building though. According to the news, all they're working on right now is artificial intelligence. Put that much juice into one of those circuit boards, and you're probably just going to fry it."

"Whatever Slade was planning, we stopped it." Robin said, punching his right fist into his left palm. "And we'll be there to stop him each and every time. One way or another, he's going to learn that you don't mess with the teen titans."

* * *

Ever since Teen Titans Go came out, I've been missing the old series more and more. I was in a TT mood, and put all my attention on this. Sorry to the people waiting on my other stories.

Now I'm saying this right here so I don't get questions, or complaints about it later. I plan on switching the order of several episodes around. It's fine for the TV series to have a few comedy relief episodes in-between serious ones, but not a fanfiction telling a story. Raven doesn't just get the prophecy and then fight Mother Mae Eye. No way. Also I want several things to happen before other things.

So to reiterate: read and review, and please alert me of spelling/grammar mistakes. Thanks everyone!


End file.
